Location: Wadi Rum desert, with related activities at Petra and the Dead Sea, Jordan
Dates: October 31–November 7, 2026
Time: Organized program begins October 31; running stages November 2, 3, and 5. Daily starting times not publicly announced. Jordan time (UTC+3).
Admission: Organized participation package listed at €2,550 per person; registration advertised as open, subject to remaining places.
Registration: MDS 120 Jordan official registration page
Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert will become an outdoor endurance course beginning October 31 as runners and walkers gather for the MDS 120 Jordan challenge, an event combining long-distance desert travel with visits to some of the country’s best-known landscapes.
Participants can choose routes totaling approximately 70, 100, or 120 kilometers, completed across three stages rather than in a continuous race.
The first stage covers roughly 25 to 30 kilometers. The second offers a choice of 20, 40, or 60 kilometers, while the final stage completes the journey.
Participants will spend three nights in a desert bivouac, carrying essential supplies under self-sufficiency rules. Medical teams, route markers, and emergency tracking equipment form part of the organized support.
The eight-day program also includes accommodation near the Dead Sea and a visit to Petra, the ancient Nabataean city carved into sandstone cliffs.
The event is organized by Marathon des Sables, whose endurance races have attracted participants seeking long-distance challenges in desert environments.
For runners, the landscape itself is part of the experience: Wadi Rum’s sandstone formations, rocky valleys, and open desert provide a dramatic setting for the physical demands of the course.
