running in Morocco
 

I realize this might seem like a rather random question, but I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with running in Morocco. I am planning on spending about 3 weeks there in July/August, and I might also be training for a marathon during that time period. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go to Morocco before the training begins. I will need to get in at least some of my long runs while there. While in the larger towns, I assume I can look for the nicer hotels with exercise rooms and I can ask to use the room for the day (for a charge). However, when I don't have access to these hotels, I will have to run outside. One... do you think this would be safe? (I am female). I would have to do it very early morning before it gets too hot. Two.... would I offend anyone running in running shorts and t-shirts?

If we don't make it to Morocco, we are considering going to Turkey during this time period... and I am going to post the same question on that forum.

Thanks for your help!

I do not think it would be a good idea to run alone in tee shirt and shorts early in the morning in MOrocco. We have been there three times and it is not a place where you seen female runners. My daughter had a problem on a non-tourist bus from some men and she was more "covered-up". In a small town while my college-age daughter and I waited in the car while my husband and son checked out a hotel, we were asked by two rifle-carrying soldiers if we were traveling alone. When I explained my husband and son were across the stree in the hotel, the soldiers said it was not safe (it was 6pm) for us to be alone and they waited with us. It is not Kansas. I love Morocco and have been there three times, but their customs are different from ours.

travelersusan,

Can't comment on Morocco, but, i can never run on a treadmill indoors ...... have never managed more than 40 minutes or so!

Good luck for your marathon!

Rgds
Hari

Hari,
I completely agree with you... I hate treadmill running, and have never done more than 4 or 5 miles on it before. But it sounds like I won't have much of a choice!

Hi there-
I fear your legs, knees,ankles & wrists may be in danger.

I was in Morocco last April and where ever I went I was horified by the random little craters I encountered in the sidewalks and the roads.....even in front of our 4-star Marakesh hotel there were these holes in the sidewalks (maybe where a tree had been) or partial pavement collapse (at a storm drain) with NOT SO MUCH as an orange cone or yellow caution tape or anything.

So many times I almost walked into a hole ~ I thought they must not have the lawsuit thing that we have here.

If you are in Rabat, there are some parks there filled with walkers and runners in the morning - men and women. Both sexes wear warm-ups for the most part although I saw some men running in shorts - not many though.

We were in other parts of Morocco and barely saw women outside of the market and public wash fountains. They were pretty well covered. Most didn't look like they had time for leisure exercise. Rabat is pretty western-feeling and I was surprised by the number of people exercising.

Yes, I definitely think that you would offend people by running in shorts and tees in Morocco. I have friends who live there (and visited myself last year). They were here in the US last year, and their little girl, about nine years old, was sitting with the three of us at a table in front of the window of a coffee shop. All of the sudden she gasped (loudly), and then burst into a fit of laughter. Her parents were puzzled until I explained what she and I had seen: a man in short shorts with no shirt running down the street. No one else in the coffee shop would have blinked an eye, but growing up in Morocco, this little one was shocked.

I hope this helps.

Hi
No prob running in shorts and t-shirts, you see lots of runners male and female, Moroccan and tourists around Agadir.
Also Agadir just held its yearly marathon so lots of runners here at the mo.

Have you considered staying in Ifrane, Morocco. It's a runner's haven. Granted, it's not a big city and there's not much to do but if you're into running, cycling, hiking then it's the best spot in Morocco. It can get crowded with domestic tourists in the summer months but they don't venture to the running or hiking spots. There are 2 great dried lake beds that have been converted into running treks, nothing sophisticated just mile markers, on the edge of the forest about a 20-minute run from the center of town and popular with professional runners. There's also a small foreign community that work at the American-style university Al-Akhawayne but most leave during the summer months. However, the university does have a pool and work-out rooms that you could buy a monthly pass to use.