JEDDAH: In November, Emma Merrick and Elzette Van Zyl will be undertaking an extraordinary enduring challenge, running 225 km from Jeddah to Taif — a demanding feat they hope to complete in approximately 28 hours.
If successful, they will be the first women in Saudi Arabia to accomplish this test of endurance.
Merrick, 35, is a mindset performance coach from the UK and Van Zyl, 34, is a personal trainer from South Africa.
The Jeddah-based women spoke to Arab News about how their “delusional idea” of running from one city to another transpired and the ongoing training.
If successful, they will be the first women in Saudi Arabia to accomplish this test of endurance. (Supplied)
Merrick and Van Zyl randomly met at a barbecue dinner and after small talk ended up going for a run together — just like that.
Until that point, Merrick, an elite rower who placed second and first in the Saudi Games in 2022 and 2023 respectively, was not much of a runner, but she “really liked it. I love pushing myself physically and mentally.”
After two trail runs, Van Zyl suggested a run in Cappadocia, Turkiye, which marked the women’s first endurance challenge and set the path for future runs. They bonded during the three-month training period before completing the 38.5 km marathon.
They were also inspired by a group of men and a woman who came together with the goal of becoming the first team to run the length of Iceland.
“I sent this video to Elzette and I said was like ‘How cool would that it be to do something like that?’ And then she said ‘How cool would it be to be the first woman to run Jeddah to Riyadh?’
“And I was like ‘I can’t believe you sent that because I had said to my coach like four months ago that I want to be the first woman to run from Jeddah to Riyadh,” said Merrick.
“Coincidentally, we were both thinking about the same thing … the same goal,” said Van Zyl.
The distance from Jeddah to Riyadh is around 999 km, so the women decided to start small and then move to longer distances.
“We have three distances that we’re going to be doing. The first one, we’re starting small and then we’re going bigger. We will start with Jeddah to Taif, then the second one would be Jeddah to Madinah, and then we chose AlUla instead of Riyadh,” Van Zyl explained.
The women are hard at training. They run an hour most in the mornings during the weekdays followed by a strength training sessions to complement their running.
On weekends, they run for two hours and above, but both Merrick and Van Zyl said that “this is nothing compared to what we will need to be doing,” and they will gradually increase the duration and intensity of the training.
Their usual practice run spot is the corniche running track and sometimes desert trails or Al-Balad in Jeddah.
The endurance pair said that the most challenging part of the run will be the elevation heading toward Taif and the hours they will have to run in the dark.
The journey is arduous, testing the women’s physical and mental endurance. But, they are resilient. They work as a team, drawing strength from each other on tougher days, and continue to push forward.
“On Instagram I follow a lot of people who do this sort of thing, so it makes you think you can, which is again why we want to do it, because if you surround yourself with people who are like that, you believe it. Nothing is impossible. It is only impossible until it’s done,” said Merrick.
“Finishing something is like the cherry on the cake, but like the person you become whilst you’re doing it that’s what I am really excited for.
“And doing it with someone is just going to be so amazing. There are going to be moments where you physically and mentally don’t want to carry on … and, that is when your mindset has to kick in and say no, we’re going to keep going regardless, that’s when you grow. And that’s the bit I love,” she added.
“Big dreams are supposed to feel uncomfortable. If they don’t scare you a little, they probably would not change you,” said Van Zyl.
The women are also working with relevant authorities for permits and assistance.
The passionate running partners have also launched their debut project, Run Beyond, on social media to build a running community, inspire people to get moving, showcase the beauty of Saudi Arabia, and help the underprivileged.
“We are just two ordinary women. A big part of why we started Run Beyond as a project, I suppose, rather than just doing the run, is we really want to inspire people, especially getting more people into movement in Saudi Arabia, and to show people that you are capable of so much more than you might believe,” said Merrick.
Van Zyl added: “We have been living here for quite a while and we’re not going any time soon. It’s a beautiful country and people need to see that. People from outside Saudi Arabia, they don’t see what we’ve seen, so we hope to show them.”
