The BLOM Beirut Marathon is running a sub program for charities to participate in the marathon, spread their messages and benefit from various fundraising initiatives.

This year we have opened up the marathon to all registered charities, eliminating the concept of partner NGO’s and introducing the new and more inclusive affiliates concept.

You will find that we have not advertised any individual charities on our registrations forms, instead we have asked people to visit the Beirut Marathon website and choose from the list of participating charities.

To become one of these charities and take part in the marathon you must follow the below steps:

Step 1 – You must be a legitimate NGO working towards a charitable objective with legal documentation to prove so. A copy of the ‘Elm w Khabar’ or your registration number is sufficient. You can email this to the NGO Coordinator, Lillian Alame: lilian@beirutmarathon.org or deliver these in person or by mail to the Beirut Marathon Association office: Att: Lillian Alame
BEIRUT MARATHON ASSOCIATION
4^th Floor, Makateb Building
Mar Takla, Hazmieh, Lebanon

Step 2 – Now that you have proved to the BMA that you are a registered NGO, it is time to list your organization on our website. To do so, the BMA needs the following to be emailed to the NGO coordinator, Lillian Alame (lilian@beirutmarathon.org)

1. High resolution logo
2. Contact person and phone number that runners can call if they would like to register for your cause
3. Links to your website and any social media that you use to keep people in the loop on your charity initiatives. If you have a facebook page it is recommended that you create an BLOM Beirut Marathon event and use this as your link for the BMA website. When runners open the event page they will find an invitation to run for your cause.
4. A brief description of your NGO objective and mission, one or two sentences will be sufficient.

Step 3 – Congratulations on becoming an affiliate charity of the BMA, it is time to start registering runners. You will receive calls from people that have seen you listed on our website but you should also go out and approach Corporate groups, Schools, Universities, Sporting clubs, Syndicates, Ministries, Social groups and just about anyone that you can get a hold of to register under your cause. The BMA has been using an electronic form of registration for 3 years now; the idea is to make registration of groups efficient and easy to track. Using a registration excel sheet that has been designed by the BMA, an NGO can register their runners by filling in all relevant details relating to the individual runners in the group and returning the excel sheet to the NGO coordinator by email or mail.
Example: If I as an NGO have approached a particular school to run for my cause and they have accepted to support me, I would provide the schools coordinator with an excel registration form and request that they fill in the details of the students that will be registering. The school must return these registrations to the NGO, along with payment, well before the registration deadline on November 6 so that you have sufficient time to coordinate with the BMA. This excel sheet will then need to be forwarded to the NGO coordinator at the BMA who will be tracking and recording all NGO registrations.

Step 4 – To further raise funds through the BLOM Beirut marathon, please see contact us
on: lilian@beirutmarathon.org
The BMA will invoice the NGO for registrations based on the NGO registration cost, once payment is made the BMA will complete the runners’ registration.

Step 5 – Bib number pack distribution can happen in two ways:

1. Runners can pick up their bib numbers and all they need for the race by visiting the ‘Take it to the Streets’ expo between 23^rd and 26^th November.  For more information visit the BIB PICKUP section of our site.
2. NGO’s can request to have bib number packs grouped and available 10 days before the race so that they may distribute them to their group coordinators. This must be noted on the excel registration sheet that is
   relevant to the individual group.

Runners must be wearing heir bib number on race day to guarantee race entry, no bib = no race!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. Can adults enter the 5km youth race?
A. The 5km youth race is limited only to those aged between 7 and 17. The only exception is if a group of children participating in the race require supervision, in this case the BMA has a policy of allowing 1 adult for every 20 children. The adult should be registered on the excel sheet as a supervisor and they must pay the fee of $10, this will cover the cost of the supervisor vest that he or she must wear in order to be allowed entry into the race. The supervisor will not be given a bib number for this race. Special circumstances can be negotiated for children that have special needs and may require a higher ratio of supervisors to children.

Q. What does Gate number mean?
A. The Gate number relates only to the 10,000m race which is designed for runners that are interested in running the 10km track rather than walking or fun running. You will find that each Gate has a time frame, this relates to the estimated time that it usually takes the runner to complete the 10km distance. Ideally you will register the runner for the 10,000m race, listing the relevant gate.

Q. Do NGO’s have to pay any fees to the BMA to become an affiliate charity?
A. Not at all, the BLOM Beirut Marathon Charity Program is a free program designed to help charities raise funds and awareness for their cause using the BLOM Beirut Marathon as a platform.

Q. What if we register elite runners?
A. Highlight the runners details on the registration form before you send it to the NGO coordinator, you can also send an email as a precaution.