Beirut Marathon

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Beirut Marathon Association
DateNovember
LocationBeirut, Lebanon
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon
Primary sponsorBLOM Bank
Established2003 (18 years ago) (2003)
Course recordsMen: 2:10:41 (2018)
Morocco Mohamed El Aaraby
Women: 2:28:38 (2017)
Bahrain Eunice Chumba
Official sitewww.beirutmarathon.org
Participants48,605 (all races) (2018)[1]
565 finishers (marathon) (2015)[2]
A group of runners in 2012
The organizer of the Beirut Marathon, May El-Khalil (5.f.r.), receives a charity cheque (2010)

The Beirut Marathon, is an annual event that takes place in Beirut, Lebanon, 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.[3] It is sponsored by the BLOM Bank.[4]

History[]

The race, created by businesswoman May El-Khalil, has the theme of unity at its core.[5]

The first marathon was held on October 19th, 2003 and attracted over 6,000 runners from 49 countries, and tens of thousands of Lebanese and international spectators.[6] 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 . broke the Lebanese record at the race that year, completing the distance in at a time of 2:20:31.[7]

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; knocked over five minutes off the women's best time.[8]

The inaugural season of Asian Premier Marathons was held in 2017–18, with Beirut Marathon, Beijing Marathon, 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.[9]

The 2020 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all who had transferred their entry from 2019 given the option of obtaining a refund.[10]

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.[5] 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 stationed in the country.[5]

Winners[]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Ed. Date Male Winner Time[a] Female Winner Time[a] Rf.
1 2003.10.19   (KEN) 2:17:04   (KEN) 2:42:29
2 2004.10.10   (ETH) 2:17:31  Anastasia Ndereba (KEN) 2:36:46
3 2005.11.13   (KEN) 2:19:20  Jane Omoro (KEN) 2:42:19
4 2006.12.03   (KEN) 2:17:28   (KEN) 2:49:25
5 2007.11.18   (ETH) 2:19:46   (ETH) 2:41:24
6 2008.11.30  Alemayehu Shumye (ETH) 2:12:47   (ETH) 2:37:20
7 2009.12.06   (ETH) 2:16:12   (ETH) 2:42:41
8 2010.11.07   (ETH) 2:16:43   (ETH) 2:41:15
9 2011.11.27  Tariku Jufar (ETH) 2:11:14   (ETH) 2:31:38
10 2012.11.11   (ETH) 2:12:57   (ETH) 2:35:08
11 2013.11.10  William Kipsang (KEN) 2:13:34   (ETH) 2:36:47
12 2014.11.09   (ETH) 2:12:26   (ETH) 2:29:15
13 2015.11.08   (KEN) 2:11:04  Kaltoum Bouaasayriya (MAR) 2:36:05
14 2016.11.13  Edwin Kiptoo (KEN) 2:13:19  Tigist Girma (ETH) 2:32:48
15 2017.11.12   (KEN) 2:10:42  Eunice Chumba (BHR) 2:28:38
16 2018.11.11  Mohamed El Aaraby (MAR) 2:10:41  Medina Armino (ETH) 2:29:31 [11]
— 2019.11.10 cancelled due to anti-government protests [9]
2020.11.08 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [9][10]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b h:m:s

References[]

  1. ^ https://archive.is/20201007223135/https://www.beirutmarathon.org/#selection-2263.0-2263.188
  2. ^ https://archive.is/20201029012957/https://www.athlinks.com/event/34548/results/Event/494131/Course/734948/Bib/428#selection-331.3-331.6
  3. ^ "About BMA - Marathon". Archived from the original on 2013-12-22. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  4. ^ Brune, Adrian (February 25, 2017). "Racing to Rebuild the Middle East". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved February 26, 2017.  – via Foreign Affairs (subscription required)
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Butcher, Pat (2010-11-05). Ethiopians the favourites as Beirut's unifying Marathon celebrates its eighth edition. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
  6. ^ El-Khalil, May. "Transcript of "Making peace is a marathon"". www.ted.com.
  7. ^ Butcher, Pat (2010-11-07). Pacemaker Teman hangs on to win in Beirut. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-07.
  8. ^ Course records fall in Beirut. IAAF (2011-11-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c Official announcement accessed on 28th January 2020
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b https://archive.is/20201029001303/https://www.instagram.com/p/B_9_g9dDplD/
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20200915180059/https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/istanbul-beirut-hefei-guadalajara-marathons-2

External links[]

Coordinates: 33°54′08″N 35°30′12″E / 33.90222°N 35.50333°E / 33.90222; 35.50333

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