Marathons: Beirut and Aqaba

The Beirut Marathon was an event that seemed destined to failure. Between the pending civil war, martial law, absence of tourism, Hezbollah bombings, and power outages this race had a lot going against it. Entering the marathon offices, I witnessed near religious fervor. The office was loud, crowded, chaotic and convinced that despite the odds the world would be a better place if the marathon happened. I talked with a documentary film maker, the general manager, and the secretary; they were all equally excited to make it happen and they signed me up.

The next day the Cornish (the sea wall pedestrian walk) was crowded with men and women in jogging suits out for an early morning walk or run. The fishermen were there too, with 15 foot long poles, angling for tiny fish off the rocks below. The feeling was optimistic despite the occaisional armored personel carrier and soldier on the sidewalk. We enjoyed the fine food and friendly people throughout our stay in Lebanon. The indifference to the military presence displayed on the Corniche that morning was similar to what we found over and over again as we talked to taxi drivers, shop keepers, and people on the street. Life goes on despite difficult political situations and stormy horizons.

The pre-race organization was superb; as I jogged away from the meeting place at 5 AM on race day I ran into the race founder and her cohorts who turned me around and drove me to the start. They were excited and energetic for the race. British, Lebanese, and Gulf states runners were milling around and sipping gatorade before the gun went off and the crowd, all 300 of us, surged forward. The start of the race looped around the Maazraa area of Beirut passed a marching band complete with baton twirlers twirling. On the next block coils of razor wire bound a very bombed out building. Contrasts. The race and the city and the country are filled them.

Running through Beirut entertained me greatly. I finished the race in about 3:15 and enjoyed the post race show that included 5 men doing their aerobics competition routine on stage. Very hip.

Pouty done up gals posing alongside hunks of hanging flesh, I can't get enough of this country!

After the race, back at the hostel I met a Japenese man about two-thirds of the way through his second bottle of Arak. He had the "post race glow" about him. He'd finished the marathon just a couple minutes before I did. As we talked he told me about his plan of running marathons around the world during his year of travel...who knew there'd be somebody else doing it too? He told me about the Aqaba Marathon and now we're here. Tomorrow's the race and I hear there are at least 30 people entered. This might be my big chance to place! And what better place to do it than a country that advertises that it has an Established Rule of Law?

We did a whirlwind tour of Jordan that we'll tell you about soon. Petra, Dana Nature Reserve, teh Dead Sea...so many beautiful places. We send hugs and love to all of you. There are pics of Jordan up on Flickr now.