First desert run

I punctuated the week with an enjoyable run on the outskirts of New Cairo, which was my first run off the track or treadmill since arriving in Egypt. AUC finally has temporary locker rooms and showers set up so I could keep my stuff on campus after my class.

As I've mentioned before, the AUC campus is very much isolated. If you go east out of the campus, you will pass a few other universities and high schools and some upscale developments for several kilometers before you make your way into Maadi and eventually Cairo. In the western direction, AUC is one of the last remaining developed regions until the Red Sea, at least from what I can tell on Google Earth. This isn't to say there isn't anything in that direction, but it seems like only small facilities and isolated residences.

I headed out west of the campus, and for the first few kilometers I passed a few isolated construction sites. One of them included a group of men building a gigantic billboard, about ten times the size of a regular billboard. I suppose land is cheap, so the bigger the advertisement, the better.

The concept of running for sport is completely foreign in Egypt, much less outside of a gym. Every time I would pass a group of construction workers, they would literally stop what they were doing and stare. Some cheered, as if I were running a race.

I carried my pack so I had all the supplies I needed. It is nearly impossible to get lost in the area where I was running - there's only one road and one direction. Additionally, the land is flat enough to see AUC and other landmarks from miles away. Occasionally a taxi or minibus would drive down the road. There are a few wealthy housing developments being constructed in this area, so in five or ten years it probably won't feel like the edge of the city anymore.

A mosque, one of the few buildings west of AUC.


It only took a few miles before I reached a completely barren section, where I was able to run a little on the open desert before turning around.



Of course there are no trees, and there aren't any clouds, so I got a slight sunburn, but nothing serious. The weather was warm but there is a very strong wind which feels very comfortable.

I probably only covered a little over nine miles in total. It's a great place to run, and much safer than anywhere in Cairo.