Forty-seven women in Saudi Arabia of various ages came together to participate in the kingdom’s first women-only cycling race  on Tuesday in the King Abdullah City for Sports in Jeddah.

The 10km race was organized by the Saudi General Authority for Sports and was held in coincidence with the International Day for Health.

This is the second sporting event dedicated to women to take place in the kingdom. Earlier this year, Mecca hosted the first marathon for Saudi women which turned out to be a great success.

Several participants expressed how happy they were to take part in the event calling it a “beautiful initiative.” They also requested that the event would be organized again in the future.

Organization supervisor, Nadima Abu al-Enein, commented on the large number of participants saying: “The large participant turnout prompted the organizing committee to increase the allowed number of participants from 30 to 47 girls, however the committee was still forced to exclude numerous others who hoped to participate.”