Sport in Libya - especially runing/jogging

1. Welcome
2. Use the search facility, most of your questions have been answered here before.
3.You can buy some sports shoes here, there's a n.ike shop. But if you're a serious runner I'd get your shoes from elsewhere.
4. I run on the roads & tracks all the time, I live just out of town and there's endless tracks to run on. If you live in town you could run around the streets.
5. Shameless self promotion: I organise a half marathon, it'll be held in October this year: local runners' forum

Hi Mudman

Thanks for your very swift reply!!

I'll check out the search facility. I didn't spot it before (I looked for a sport category/forum but there doesn't seem to be one - but I might have missed it too!)

I'm probably a fairly serious runner even though I'm not in the best shape at the moment. I don't live in Libya at the moment but I'm considering there for work.

Thanks again for your reply (and the link). I'll search for more info already posted. Good luck with your half marathon.

Mudman wrote:

5. Shameless self promotion: I organise a half marathon, it'll be held in October this year: local runners' forum

By you simply confessing that it is "shameless", it ceases to be so.

Normally I would advise you to get a woodway if you cant find a track and never run outdoors since most outdoor surfaces do not provide proper give for consistent training.

I never ran in sand until about a week ago. It was soft soil in which you legs sink shin-deep. hmm hmm hmm, delectable!! It's like snow but much softer, fluffier, warmer and denser. only drawback is it fills your shoes with sand which messes your form, gives you blisters, forces you to stop, unload sand then proceed or all of the above. and you cant run barefoot if you want to keep you feet intact.

Welcome aboard, Stick

MoEl wrote:

never run outdoors since most outdoor surfaces do not provide proper give for consistent training.

Unless, of course, you're training to run outdoors. In which case, the consistent inconsistency is a desirable consequence.

Mudman wrote:

Unless, of course, you're training to run outdoors. In which case, the consistent inconsistency is a desirable consequence.

The principle of specificity indeed.

I still, however, think it's a bad idea to pound pavement and concrete sidewalks for miles, unless one was running for his/her life.

Actually, I prefer the consistency of a tarmac road. There's little chance of twisting an ankle on a tarmac road so long as it's in a reasonable condition and it's very easy to get into a rhythm with your (my) running. I find that so long as I'm wearing a decent (and suitable) pair of running shoes, the hard surface is not a problem at all.

I looked on Google Earth for tracks or stadiums in Tripoli and found what looks like 2 stadiums. One is in the west of the city near the corniche road and al-ma'arri street, and the other is to the east of the city near the corniche and as-swalim and al-fatah streets. The second one looks much bigger than the first (maybe it's for horse or camel racing!!). The second one looks like it has a cinder track. It's not clear what is at the first stadium. It might just be a grass field for football or other sports.

Thanks for the welcome, MoEl.

Don't know about the first one and am not gonna fire up GEarth with this poor connection.

The one to the east is BooSettah/AbuSettah (Father of six
The main track is dirt/sand horse-racing track used for family outings, walking, jogging...etc. And you probably wont like it, Stick. When I went there I saw a much narrower rubber or tartan inside-track, but it was too narrow and you can neither pace yourself nor sprint with so many people using it simultaneously.

Seems there is a decent track in Libya: the June 11 stadium in Tripoli: picture below. Longitude and latitude: 32.859535, 13.136054 (enter that in Google Earth for an accurate position)



(The same picture can be seen on the Ittihad football club supporters flickr page)

Al-ittihad football club supporters pics

Nice. I don't think it's open to the public, though. Does any one know for sure?