Gobustan hosts Trail Running Race

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Trail Running Race has been held in Gobustan.

More than a hundred runners took part in the marathon, co-organized by the Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve and the  Mountain Sports Club.

The main goal of the race is to promote a healthy lifestyle as well as Gobustan's  ancient heritage and demonstrate its tourism potential. The winners were awarded with medals.

Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and the hill running.

Trail running normally takes place in warm climates and on good paths.

Unlike road running and track running it generally takes place on hiking trails, often in mountainous terrain, where there can be much larger ascents and descents.

Today more people are participating in solo backcountry trail running trips.

Settled since the 8th millennium BC, Gobustan State Historical Reserve is home to over 600,000 petroglyphs.

These stone and iron-age figures were carved thousands of years ago and now considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Gobustan rock carvings were discovered in 1939 at the foot of the mountain Djingirdagh and on the top of Yazili Tepe.

Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was fascinated by Gobustan rock art. He recognized local boat petroglyphs as the oldest known images of pirogue in the world.

These vessels, similar to the old Scandinavian ships, prompted him to make sensational hypotheses about the connection between Norwegians and Azerbaijanis.

Thor Heyerdahl concluded that the ancestors of the Scandinavians were the migrants from Azerbaijan.

Most of the rock engravings depict primitive men, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars.

Apart from petroglyphs, there is also this musical gemstone known as Gaval Dash. It makes a tambourine-like sound when it is hit at different points.

Another interesting touristic spot is a stone slab with a Latin inscription dating to the first century. The stone lab was left here by the 12th Roman legion of the Emperor Domitian, which indicates that that legion had stayed there.

Now Gobustan is a real open-air museum, visited by thousands of people from all over the world.