Egyptian International Marathon - Race Reviews

All is good but they must close the streets because the cars not annoye us during running and they should reward the age groups too

What an AMAZING race experience.. It is my third time to join Luxor Marathon, and of course, will not be the last ensha'a Allah (God willing). Really It was AWESOME!! I wonder about the old reviews I've seen herewith and the unbelievable comments since 2015.. That means to me either these comments are not true, and I doubt, or there are severe and extreme changes happened during last years for this Marathon and its administration which turned everything upside down. Expo: - Arrived on time, traffic well planned - Warm-hearted organisers - Wonderful weather - Epic atmosphere - Nice T-shirt design, included in registration - Lockers available - Wonderful spectators - Cheers >ò from volunteers, children=l=m - All vibes were stunning Race: - The route is nearly flat regardless of a gentle decline at the beginning and same gentle incline at the end. - Nutrition (water, banana, dates, electrolytes, cola - personally I didn't get any, but other runner mates did) every 2.5km introduced by Hilton Hotel awesome prestigious waiters. - Starting under the historic temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the race spans multiple historical places crossing a lot of Egyptian ancient monuments such as the temple of Habou, the temple of Amenophis, the Colossi of Memnon, and much more.. keeping in mind that Luxor city only has one-third of the world's ancient monuments such as the Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, Valley of Kings, Valley of the Queens, and the Temple of Deir al-Bahri. There are a large number of ancient monasteries, graves, ancient Egyptian temples, and numerous monuments that attract everyone from all around the world to Luxor. I've been to some of these places before and after the race day. Wishes: - More sponsors to engage - Full marathon route could be changed to 2 laps instead of 4 by adjusting the route - More Toilets - More signs for kilometres are needed I had a great time at the Egyptian Luxor Marathon, and I enjoyed it to the fullest... I really recommend it for everyone..

It was my first time to visit Luxor and participate in the huge Marathon, the choice of the place, the organization, even the colors and design of the T-shirt and the medal. The race course (route) is fun & amazing, the kids and people of Luxor are very friendly and the participants are from all over the world. ISA,I will participate every year and invite all my friends to participate. All thanks to the organizers, sponsors and participants for the beautiful vibes of the event.

The organizers were very helpful and professionals. The city was vey nice.

It was great historical tour around Luxor antient places along the route mixed by balloon back view

Weather, organisers, the view, and the course all were excellent

Luxor is great, the city is awesome, but the organization is so so late and horrible. The course is so boring compared to a great city, they make the registration expensive because of stupid after party!!

I got confused and had to run for 14 km instead of 12 km due to lack of directions.

Run the HM 2013. Number of participants around 230 including the ones from Full M. Unique course because you run among history. Organisation not comparable with the international races. Almost familiar but everything went fine. Transportation ok. No chip, no sponsor, no free T-Shirt. Reading from previous experiences I was ready for the worst but end up in a nice experience. The HM is running along a ring of 10Km (to repeat 2 time) and the same for the marathon (to repeat 4 times). No evidence for each Km. GPS mandatory. Sightseeing after the race unforgettable.

To compare this to a European or US marathon would be unfair... except a vast majority of the people running it are European or American. For what it is, a marathon in Egypt, it's good. Lovely course, though a bit dangerous. You battle kids wanting money and tourist buses the whole time. I wouldn't do it again, but all in all, it was something you should do, given the chance.

This race is organized on a shoestring, even after 18 years. Do not expect microchips, pacers, extra toilets, or a free t-shirt. The distance markers are every 10K, and the water stations vary from 2.5-11.5K, and water and bananas are served. The organization and marking are a bit chaotic. The distances are incorrect. The surroundings are nice, though you have to run a loop four times. The organizers' hotel is great, and the gala dinner was good. Take it for what it is - a race in unique surroundings - but this is no European or US event when it comes to organization.

My wife and I traveled to Luxor to do our African marathon as part of our seven-continent marathon program. It was a small field of runners on a flat course, in a very historic area of the Valley of the Queens. We enjoyed it and ran personal best times. The host hotel was great. I also thought that the organization was good and the drink stations were well located (providing water and bananas, which was all we needed). Great experience, and it allowed us to see Egypt.

I like quiet events with a small field of runners, so this marathon was made for me - with 59 marathon finishers in 2009. Warm weather in the middle of the European winter, water/banana posts every 2.5 KM and limited traffic (all of that with the ancient monuments and back-country scenery). Keep in mind that it's an African country, and enjoy your run like we did. The host hotel is worth its price - recommended!

It was my 3rd marathon. I really enjoyed the course and the weather, but unfortunately the course is not safe and needs to be improved; it must be good for tourism in Egypt, but Luxor deserves better marathon organization.

As part of my 7-continents marathon tour, I was very disappointed in the organization for this race. During my run I was constantly distracted by the many kids that kept begging for money. The race only provided water stands and diced bananas - that's it The course was unorganized as well, with cars everywhere on our race course, and there were very few police and very few street closures for us. There were not enough people running the race in general! After the 4:30 mark, many of the cones were being taken from the course (even though there were still runners running). To top it off, they didn't even distribute medals to us upon our finish. We had to meet at another location later in the evening to receive them! This was by far the most horrible marathon experience ever. But at least the pyramids, medal, certificate and dinner gala made up for the race!

The course was very unorganized! I was afraid of getting hit by cars, buses, and even other pedestrians. Natives grabbed your hands and begged for money. The food given was 1 banana and some water. In the news they stated that over 1,500 people ran, but if you look at the results, the combined number of marathoners, half marathoners, 10K runners and roller-bladers were 200! NO FEMALES SHOULD RUN THIS MARATHON!!!!! The behavior of the natives was UNACCEPTABLE!

This is the last race I would recommend for females. During the first loop of the 4, the children were tolerable, running alongside, asking for money and candy. By the 4th loop, the children were more aggressive, grabbing at the females as they ran by. Bring pepper spray if you plan on running this race. The other drawback was that there was no energy drinks offered along the course - just water.

I have run over 15 international marathons, and this has so far been the worst experience!!! I would give the organization a 0 if I could for the complete lack of consideration that they showed for the runners and their well-being. Let's just for a second ignore the booths and drinks and concentrate on how near the end, we were dodging traffic and the kids who made their way onto the course! Egypt has so much to offer (scenery-wise) and I don't believe this even came close to accommodating that (for the record, it was the same loop repeated). I would not recommend this to any international runners before major alterations were made by the administration! On a side-note, Egypt was beautiful and if I could please ask of the group in charge of the marathon to include more of the scenery and maybe change locations annually!

Nice environment, even though running 4 times in a circle for a marathon is quite hard. Nevertheless if they would enlarge it to 2 circles or even 1, the support from people in some areas would be just nothing for a longer time. They split the street; nevertheless later on nobody cared about it. At the finish, too many busses were on the street and there was nearly no shade.

I have run the Luxor Half-Marathon three times (2003-05). There are three options to choose from: a one-loop 10K race, a two-loop half-marathon, and a four-loop marathon. The half-marathon is actually about 3/4 of a mile longer. The organization is very good; spectator support is somewhat limited but genuinely warm. There are kilometer markings every 5K, and water and bananas every 2.5K. What makes this race so compelling is the setting: where else can one race among such ancient monuments? The course itself is fairly flat: a gentle decline at the beginning of the loop offsets an equally gentle incline toward the end of the loop. The weather is beautiful but on the warm side, so hydrate well. The only complaint is that the entry fee should include a T-shirt; Egypt is known for its cotton. I keep coming back and encourage you to visit Luxor and run the race.

This marathon takes place on the West Bank in Luxor. The race start was a little chaotic, as we were told that there would be two starts, but then it turned out that there was only one, and we had a little bit of catching up to do. During the race you will experience the local children running next to you, asking for pens and bon bons. The race started at 7:30, and the buses didn't arrive until 7:10/7:15, so there was no time to warm up. The course consists of four laps, and is mostly flat. I finished in 3:09:34, smashing my PB by over 23 mins, so I was more than happy. The race organization is okay. The bad thing was that despite having paid a race fee of $50 US, if you wanted a race t-shirt you had to pay an extra $10, which left some people fuming. The post-marathon banquet made up for that though, with mountains of food, and local, traditional entertainment; it was a nice way to end the day.