Over 2000 women registered for Saudi Arabia’s first marathon for women
6 March 2018
| Last updated on 6 March 2018![Saudi Arabia Hosted Their First All-Woman Marathon Saudi Arabia Hosted Their First All-Woman Marathon](https://cdn.expatwoman.com/s3fs-public/ksamarathon_main.jpg)
Image Credit: Al Arabiya
Saudi Arabia hosted their first marathon for women in Riyadh on Saturday, March 3rd. Organisers were surprised with almost 2,000 women signing up for the marathon forcing them to close the registrations for this event.
Technically, it wasn't a marathon as the race was only 3 km long, but it was still a special day for all the ladies in Saudi. Approximately 1,500 women participated in the race with most of the women dressed in their traditional Islamic attire. Saudi’s 2020 Olympic Games representative in Tokyo, Mizna Al Nassar, won the first women’s marathon within 15 minutes.
Here are some of our favourite moments captured on camera for the event:
Numerous changes have been implemented in Kingdom that gives women more rights within the country and helps to close the gender inequality gap in the Kingdom. Women are now allowed into sports stadiums, they will soon be able to drive and are actively being encouraged to start working and participating in different sports types.
This is part of Saudi’s vision 2030 to reform the country and wean it off of its dependency on oil. Other projects that are included in Saudi's Vision 2030 is a luxury resort by the Red Sea that will operate under international laws, NEOM Megacity, bringing cinemas and music events back to Saudi Arabia, allowing women to drive, introducing tourist visa's to the country and much, much more!