Running & triathlon

Running in
Saudi Arabia.

A running scene still being built in real time — Vision 2030 money, a five-year-old flagship marathon, and now T100's first-ever Saudi race, in Jeddah.

7 running races and 1 triathlon, across 4 provinces.

8
Events
4
provinces

What it is actually like to run there

Eleven years of daily records at Jeddah, not a seasonal generalisation. "Warm mornings" counts the share of days starting at or above 24°C — the point where heat stops being a detail and starts setting your pace for you.

One anchor cannot speak for Saudi Arabia

Riyadh's hottest month averages 43.4°C by day and Riyadh's coolest averages 20.9°C. Treating those as one climate would be a claim about neither, so here is a row for every province.

Running conditions by province
City Province Hottest month Coolest month Wettest month Warm mornings, peak
Jeddah Makkah Province Jul 36.4°C Jan 27.5°C Dec 3.3d Jul 100%
Riyadh Riyadh Province Jul 43.4°C Jan 20.9°C Mar 2.9d Jul 100%

Month by month at Jeddah

Monthly running conditions at Jeddah
Month Avg high Avg low Rain days Warm mornings
January 27.5°C 20°C 2.8 1%
February 28°C 20.1°C 1.8 1%
March 29.9°C 21.6°C 0.6 15%
April 32.1°C 23.8°C 1.1 48%
May 34.4°C 26°C 0.1 86%
June 35.3°C 27.1°C 0 98%
July 36.4°C 28.3°C 0 100%
August 36.2°C 29.4°C 0.1 100%
September 35.3°C 28.2°C 0 100%
October 34.1°C 26.1°C 0.7 94%
November 31.6°C 24.2°C 2.9 60%
December 29.3°C 22°C 3.3 11%

Hottest: Jul

Averaging 36.4°C by day, 28.3°C overnight.

Easiest: Jan

The coolest month, averaging 27.5°C.

Wettest: Dec

Rain on about 3.3 days in an average month.

By province

5 Riyadh Province 5 running
1 Al Madinah Province 1 running
1 Eastern Province 1 running
1 Makkah Province 1 triathlon

Coming up in Saudi Arabia

Tuwaiq Trail Race Tuwaiq Escarpment, Riyadh region Al Sharqiyah International Race Al-Khobar, Eastern Province AlUla Trail Race — Hegra Hundred AlUla Riyadh Marathon Riyadh One Run Wadi Namar, Riyadh One Run Riyadh 10K Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia

Triathlon in Saudi Arabia

T100 Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Running here as a visitor

The hardest part of training somewhere new isn't the route — it's not knowing anyone. This is who is in Saudi Arabia over the next three months: runners who live here, and runners passing through. Saudi Arabia is big enough that the county pages are the more useful place to look — "somewhere in Saudi Arabia next week" doesn't help anyone arrange a run.

Checking who's in Saudi Arabia…

Running in Saudi Arabia: the long reads

The things a race listing can't tell you — what the conditions actually cost you, where people really run, what to carry, and what running is like in every province on the map. 4 guides, 23 minutes of reading.

The conditions

Eleven years of records for Jeddah, in a country where summer air temperature is rarely the number that matters most.

Running in Saudi Arabia's Heat: Riyadh vs Jeddah, in Real Numbers Riyadh and Jeddah both get brutally hot, but differently: Riyadh is dry desert heat (July 6am averages 30.3°C air with a dew point of just 2.6°C — you barely sweat, so dehydration sneaks up on you), while Jeddah is humid coastal heat (August 6am averages 29.6°C with a 26°C dew point, an index around 164°F, genuinely worse than Kingston, Jamaica's worst month). Both cities are unrunnable at midday for most of the year; dawn is not optional. 9 min read

Running here as a visitor

What changed under Vision 2030, what hasn't, and the practical differences between training here and training somewhere with an established running culture.

Running in Saudi Arabia as a Visitor: What Has Actually Changed Public running has gone from effectively unavailable to visibly normal since 2017 — women's participation in the Riyadh Marathon alone grew from 3,297 (2022) to over a third of a 50,000-strong field in 2026. Modest athletic wear is the practical norm rather than strict rule; run clubs in Riyadh and Jeddah welcome visitors; and the change is real but genuinely uneven by neighbourhood, not uniform nationwide. 7 min read

Where to run

Riyadh and Jeddah — the routes, parks and waterfront paths people actually use, and what each city is like underfoot.

Where to Run in Riyadh: Sports Boulevard, Wadi Hanifah and the DQ Sports Boulevard is Riyadh's flagship Vision 2030 infrastructure — a 135km corridor with 134km of walking trails. King Abdullah Park has a roughly 2km paved perimeter loop. Wadi Hanifah is where most run clubs actually meet. The Diplomatic Quarter is widely cited as the most relaxed area for runners generally, and for women specifically. 4 min read Where to Run in Jeddah: The Corniche and Beyond Jeddah's Corniche is the answer, unambiguously — a Red Sea waterfront promenade around 30km overall, with a dedicated running and cycling path extending up to 11km one-way in its most-used central sections, palm-lined, and cooled by the sea breeze relative to the rest of the city. 3 min read

Common questions

How many races are there in Saudi Arabia?

Verus currently lists 7 running races and 1 triathlon and multisport event in Saudi Arabia, across 4 provinces.

What is the weather like for running in Saudi Arabia?

It depends entirely on where. Across 2 cities, one per province, the hottest month anywhere is Jul in Riyadh at 43.4°C, and the coolest is Jan in Riyadh at 20.9°C. In the hottest of them, more than half of mornings in the peak month start at or above 24°C, so an early start does not solve it.

Can I find people to run with in Saudi Arabia?

Yes — Verus athletes list the town they are from, so this page shows who is already here. If you are travelling, adding your own location means runners here can find you too.

Add yourself to Saudi Arabia All races