“Al Bayroutya”, the only women’s exclusive race in Lebanon, deserves more effort in promotion and communication. It’s a beautiful, but not fast, 5K followed by a relaxed medals ceremony in downtown Beirut. RRA does not believe that we should allow our races to attract non-runners and so we do not compromise on the time limit. However, it is imperative to get our message across in a more effective way well before the race week. It will be done in the future.

Despite the relatively small number of runners, the race was awesome! The pre-race organization proved to be flawless, the atmosphere at Lina’s café was very friendly, relaxed and warm and the T-shirt design was the best so far (thanks, Rik!).

Maria Pia Nehme, who moved from RRA to Jamhour Sporting Club in 2009, won the race, clocking 19:11. Melissa Rizk the very promising newly recruited RRA athlete confirmed her regular good form by crossing the finish line second, with a time of 20:19. Marie el Amm, the master runner, was third, with a time of 20:44.

The times were not up to the runners’ potentials. The reasons being: the heat, the U turn and difficulty of the course. Undoubtedly, these times will be dramatically improved on the 5000m track during the Lebanese Athletics Championships.

Last but not least, MP Nayla Tueni, the only Beirut MP who is a woman, together with Youmna Gemayel (representing Beirut MP Nadim Gemayel) joined the crowd at Lina’s Café, where they awarded medals to the various winners of all age categories. They both promised that they will be amongst the runners for “Al Bayroutya” 4th edition!

Thank you to Casino du Liban for their generous sponsorship and Kellogs for providing the breakfast.