To honor the memory of the victims of the Beirut blast, Lebanon will hold the first edition of the Beirut Port International Marathon & Half-Marathon this Sunday, March 28th.
Organized by Inter-Lebanon Road Running and Athletics Club and the Elite Running Club, the race will consist of a 21.1-kilometer loop. Runners participating in the half-marathon will run one lap while those running the full marathon will run two.
Marathoners and Half-Marathoners will start together at 6:45 a.m. from in front of the Beirut Port moving towards Corniche El-Manara, passing through Zaitunay Bay, Ain El Mraisseh, the Central Military Club, and back.
“This international race is meant to memorialize the cataclysm that has devastated half of the city of Beirut leaving hundreds of victims and injured to whom the running community insists on expressing its respect,” wrote Roger Bejjani, a member of the Inter-Lebanon Road Running and Athletics Club.
He added that, due to sanitary precautions, the number of runners is limited and that they are handpicked by the organizers.
At the end of the race, winners will be awarded in the presence of the families of victims of the Beirut Port explosion.
Additionally, every participant will be given a medal upon finishing the race. Those who ran the Marathon will have a medal that has a red ribbon representing the blood spilled during the tragedy, while the medals given to Half-Marathon-ers will have a green ribbon representing hope.
