Eoin Keith, Winner of the UTMB Oman 2019

The Society was delighted to welcome Eoin Keith to discuss his phenomenal win in the 170km UTMB Oman 2019 race, finishing in a time of 36 hours and 4 minutes.

Eoin regaled the audience with a mile-by-mile breakdown of his historic win and titanic battle with Hamdan Al-khatri. Eoin really gave a sense of the how it feels to run immersed in the natural beauty of Oman’s dramatic interior; through deep wadis, high ridges, ancient villages, and more than 2,200M of elevation gain onto Jebel Akhdar, the Green Mountain. The Green Mountain is famed for its rose water, refreshing cooler climate and fruit orchards, which are typically laid out in terraces on the mountain slopes, endowed with natural springs and falaj. The runners' journey leads them off the beaten tourist tracks, allowing them to explore the Sultanate’s hidden gems that are located deep within its rugged, untouched landscapes. The 130km mountain course is hailed by National Geographic as the ‘world’s toughest adventure race’. The ultra-trail route extends over the summit of Jebel Shams (3000m - the highest mountain in Arabia) to cover even more stunning terrain.

Providing a long course of 170km with over 10,000+m of vertical gain, this is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most technically challenging in the world. To win a UTMB race is at the top of every ultrarunners bucket list and to hear the story of his race first-hand was a real privilege.