DEAD 2 RED MARATHON

The Amman Road Runners, a Jordanian running club, has been hosting a marathon and cycling relay from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea every year for the last 12(?) years. A few weeks ago, I organized two teams of CIEE students to participate in this madness. It's 242 kilometers of mind-numbing, knee-grinding desert beauty. We began at 4:00 PM and ran through the night into the next morning, and I got to run through the desert in the middle of the night.

So. Awesome.

So every runner completed a half-marathon each (roughly). Photos by my good friend Zach Ruchman. Except the last one.

What a great action shot! I'm deceptively athletic!

For Yates. Durr.

Sunset by the Dead Sea. How's home, guys, by the way?

These were our rides. GIT ON THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS!

This was at about 5:00 AM. Most of us were weighing the benefits of cheating vs. suicide at this point.

Team Cool Runnings: 19 Hours, 15 Minutes. 23rd Place. We earned it.

Some of the highlights included:

It was brutal.