Beirut Marathon Runners 106th Bn (8189635611) (2)

The Beirut Marathon, is an annual event that takes place in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, first held in 2003. It is a founding member of Asian Premier Marathons, and was accredited as a Silver Label Road Race by the IAAF. Unifying members of all political groups is a central theme to the race. The marathons are managed by the Beirut Marathon Association, a non-profit non-governmental organization registered under the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Lebanon. It is sponsored by the BLOM Bank.

History

The race, created by businesswoman May El-Khalil, has the theme of unity at its core. The first marathon was held on October 19, 2003 and attracted over 6,000 runners from 49 countries, and tens of thousands of Lebanese and international spectators. These numbers increased every year, most notably reaching 32,000 runners from 71 countries in the 2009 BLOM Beirut Marathon, and over 47,800 runners in 2017. The 2010 edition of the men's race was won by the pacemaker

Mohamed Temam Mohamed Temam or Mohamed Temmam (23 February 1915 Algiers – 15 July 1988 Algiers) was Algerian miniaturist painter and illuminator. His miniature painting of the Kaaba in Mecca was featured on a commemorative stamp issued by Algeria in 1978. ...

. Hussein Awadah broke the Lebanese record at the race that year, completing the distance in at a time of 2:20:31. In 2011, the course was altered to make it faster and easier to organise and the men's and women's record were both improved that year;

Seada Kedir Seada is a Sardinian dessert. It is prepared by deep-frying a large semolina dumpling (usually between 8 and 10 cm in diameter) with a filling of soured Pecorino cheese Pecorino cheeses are hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk. The name ...

knocked over five minutes off the women's best time.Course records fall in Beirut
IAAF (2011-11-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-27. The inaugural season of Asian Premier Marathons was held in 2017–18, with Beirut Marathon,

Beijing Marathon The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the onl ...

, and Seoul Marathon as its founding members. The 2019 edition of the race was cancelled due to anti-government protests, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2020 or obtaining a refund.Official announcement
accessed on 28th January 2020 The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, with all who had transferred their entry from 2019 given the option of obtaining a refund.

Other activities

Beirut Marathon Association also organizes their annual marathon village which was sponsored by Transmed in 2017. The village comprises an expo, Souk El Akel Food Market, BLOM Bank Beirut Marathon Bib Pick-up, 15th Year Museum, Activations and many more activities by exhibitors.

Community impact

The race reaches out to all sides of the political spectrum in Lebanon. The day's events also include a 3 km race for MPs of any political allegiance, as well as members of the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( ar, قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان, he, כוח האו"ם הזמני בלבנון), or UNIFIL ( ar, يونيفيل, he, יוניפי״ל), is a UN peacekeeping m ...

stationed in the country.Butcher, Pat (2010-11-05)
Ethiopians the favourites as Beirut's unifying Marathon celebrates its eighth edition
IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.

Winners

Key: Course record (in bold)

Notes

References

External links

Official website

{{IAAF Silver Label Recurring sporting events established in 2003 Marathons in Lebanon Marathon Annual sporting events in Lebanon 2003 establishments in Lebanon Autumn events in Lebanon Organisations based in Beirut