A large number of people in Jeddah loving to practice jogging believe that it is not only good for health but also leads to new personal relationships and friendships. The exercise opens up your mind and encourages one to mix with people, according to some regular joggers in the city.

They demanded the Jeddah Municipality, through the columns of Arab News, to provide some basic utilities such as toilets, lights, and coffee houses at the walking locations. They also urged the authorities to pave the dirty walkways and plant trees on both sides, and increase the number of refuse bins along the walkways.

“One of the most beautiful things I do daily is a full-hour jogging at the walkway close to the Marwah district where I live,” a private sector employee Sayyaf Al-Ghamdi, 24, said, adding that he never spent a day without jogging.

Muhammad Ashour, 23-year-old civil servant, agreed with Al-Ghamdi and said: “The secret of my good health is regular jogging and running at this walkway. It also makes me more prone to make friends with other people frequenting here.”

Ahmed a retired man in his 50’s said he practices walking at this walkway for at least an hour to keep his high blood sugar and obesity in control as recommended by his doctor

He said he practices this sport on a daily basis between the afternoon and the maghrib prayers.

He claims that the jogging changed his life and helped him kick smoking that had affected his health and reduced his weight.

Anmar Salim, 44, a government employee, said he used to go to a particular walkway in the city in the company of his family and enjoy the cool weather. “But I want to draw the attention of the Jeddah Municipality to place plenty of garbage boxes along the walkway or at least small bags to throw garbage.

I also call on the municipality to get rid of the muddy pavements and plant small trees to give the area a spirit of nature and purify the polluted city air,” he said.

A private sector employee Fatima Qougandi, 33, said the reason for her jogging was to reduce her weight. “I am a working woman and I spend most of my time sitting in the office. That is why I jog for an hour after the end of my walk and then go back home.”

She found the practice so beneficial to her health that she decided to suggest to her boss that all the staff members be allowed to go for a walk and then get back to work again.

Esra Fallata shared this view saying she also started jogging at a walkway on the Tahlia Street.

She said a major problem for Saudi women is the lack of any place for amusements or walkways close to their neighborhoods and so they were at the mercy of their relatives or drivers to take them to some walkways away from their places of residence.

She lamented that the Saudi society did not realize the importance of practicing regular jogging except when they start suffer from overweight conditions. She also urged the municipality to open cafeterias and toilets close to walkways.