Eighteen runners from Italy, Germany, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand and Iran will attend the 2018 Ultramarathon – the 3rd Iranian Silk Road race across Lut Desert, known as one of the hottest places on earth – to be held from September 29 to October 7.
The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East and West, enabling cultural interaction between the regions for many centuries. The Silk Road derived its name from the lucrative trade in silk carried out along its length, beginning in the Han dynasty (207 BCE–220 CE).
How hot is it? Based on seven years of satellite temperature data analyzed by NASA, the Lut Desert was the hottest spot on planet Earth in five out of those seven years, and in 2005 registered the highest temperature overall: 70.7°C, or 159.26° F.
The race is scheduled in two formats: the Integral 155 miles and the Lite 58. Athletes who run the Lite race will have the advantage of being directly transported by jeep to the first checkpoint at each daily stage.
The 155 mile runners will run from 8:30 AM to 3 PM, point to point every day. At the end of each stage, the athletes will arrive at a tent camp that will host them for the night.
The organizers, World Running Academy Extreme Races, will supply about 10 quarts of drinking water, both cold and warm (the latter for prepare food) everyday to each runner, distributed both at checkpoints and at base camp.
The runners are not allowed to use their water for washing, during the race or at the base camps.
“Undoubtedly, holding such events makes the region more popular,” the Kerman province tourism chief Gholamreza Farrokhi told Mehr News on Sunday.