BIM 2003 Archive

Please note that ALL links below refer to information pertaining to the BIM of 2003 ONLY.
Browse through the Home Page for information about the 2004 events.

July 15, 2003

Local runners get set to go the distance

*First-timers hope to make their mark in Beirut Marathon* Hannah Wettig Daily Star staff It’s six in the morning, the air is fresh and the sun doesn’t scald yet. The Corniche is buzzing with joggers, pedestrians and squash players. Eight people have gathered across from the Hard Rock Cafe to start their 5-kilometer runs. They want to become marathon runners, and Ritta Wakim instructs them how. The freelance sports trainer taps on her head: “It’s all in here,” she says, explaining the primary condition for becoming a marathon runner. “Follow your own pace. Don’t try to catch up with someone who passes you,” she says, adding: “You should try to stick to 10 kilometers an hour.” “Impossible,” exclaims Dania George, a runner. “I could never run one hour,” to which Wakim replies: “Yes, you will.” After four weeks of training, the aspiring runners do 6 kilometers from the Hard Rock Cafe to the Luna Park and back. According to the Beirut Marathon Association’s schedule-training plan, 5 kilometers are recommended for the fourth week. “We are pushing it a bit,” says Wakim, as two days previously, the group had even managed to run 7 kilometers. The Beirut Marathon Association offers training for anyone wishing to participate in this year’s inaugural Beirut Marathon on Oct. 19. Runners who have registered for the marathon can train on four weekdays in Beirut: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm in Dbaye and Thursdays and Saturdays on the Corniche at 6 and 7am. In Sidon, a group runs together on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Although Wakim admits there is not much to teach about how to run, she believes that organized, group training is necessary for some because otherwise people wouldn’t get up to run in the morning. “I get bored when I run alone, I get tired faster,” says George, who starts her workday at 8am as a consultant. She admits that she doesn’t really follow the recommendations by the Beirut Marathon Association. According to their program 15 weeks before the marathon participants should run four times a week, three times about 5-6.5 kilometers, and on Saturdays about 15 kilometers, in addition to doing other sports on Sundays, such as swimming or cycling, to train different muscles. Skipping a day of training is not the end of the world, says Wakim, “as long as you do your long runs on Saturdays,” she tells George. Hisham Abi Rafh runs every morning. Getting up at 5.30am, and going to work right afterward is no problem, he claims … at first. “You get energized, get your stress out and start the day with a good amount of adrenaline.” But he is a bit nervous about running a whole marathon 42.2 kilometers. “I’ll be happy to survive,” he says. His reason for the training seems to be his wife, who dared him to join the team.
		“She kicks me out of bed every morning,” Abi Rafh admits. When asked why they don’t run together, he replies: “Guess. She first wants to see the effect on me.” Getting up so early is crucial, says Wakim, because “at 7am it is already too hot.” “Last week it was so humid, we couldn’t run,” she says. But it’s not only the heat that makes training difficult. Pollution can be a real health hazard for runners, because air gets into deep passages of the lungs when jogging. Luckily, in the early morning hours, traffic is still low and a fresh breeze blows inland from the sea. Almost everybody on the team admits that getting up so early is tough. Everybody but Daouk Nizar, that is. Nizar is a wiry little man and is one of the oldest would-be competitors in the marathon. Although 73 years of age, getting up is easy for him. “My heart is 16 years old,” says Nizar, who has been running for 35 years in Beirut. “First I started on the campus of the American University,” he says. “Later, I ran between St. George and Summerland.” In the 1970s, joggers were looked upon as strange, according to Nizar: “Everybody told me I shouldn’t run. Now, everybody is running.” “They finally caught up with you,” jokes Abi Rafh, who is convinced Nizar will win an award for coming first in the race. “He will probably be the only one in his category,” Abi Rafh adds. Prize money will be given to the first 12 men and first 12 women who finish the marathon, the first seven Lebanese and the first three in older age groups: Masters are 40 years and older, Veterans 70 years and up. Wakim, however, doubts that Nizar will be the only one, saying: “There are many people coming from abroad,” she says. Convinced marathon runners take pride in having run in different places with the international marathons in London, New York and Boston ranking as some of the most favorite city races. Also popular are the Hawaii Marathon and the race for which the marathon was named in ancient times between the town of Marathon and Athens in Greece. There are two other international marathons taking place on the same date as the first Beirut Marathon the Canadian International Marathon in Toronto and the Beijing International Marathon so there will be competition to pull in regular athletes who participate in the international marathon circuit. No one in this training group from Beirut has run a marathon before and none can imagine getting an award. “We are so excited that we can run 6 to 8 kilometers now,” says Raffi Nalbandian, 31, who adds: “For me that’s really an achievement.”

Monday, June 2, 2003

Federico Bianco wins our all expenses paid trip to participate in the BIM 2003!

Congratulations to Federico Bianco from Milan, Italy, who won our 'May Online Competition'! By simply registering online, Federico won himself an all expenses paid trip to Beirut, Lebanon to participate in the first ever Beirut International Marathon 2003. Federico's online registration was selected at random from all online registrations received during the past month and has secured him the following prize:

Return air ticket Milan - Beirut - Milan. Airport transfers in Lebanon. 7 nights half board accommodation at the Mövenpick Hotel & Resort, Beirut (single/double or twin room provided). VIP Hospitality during the Marathon events. VIP Pasta Party ticket Personal Accident and Liability Insurance during the Marathon (subject to terms and conditions). BIM 2003 Goodie Bag.

Federico expressed his delight and happiness for what he called "the wonderful prize" and is looking forward to his first visit to Beirut. This will be his fourth marathon after Beijing, Milan, and St. Petersburg.

An overjoyed Federico!

Eager to Race in a New City