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The Beirut Marathon Association is a not-for-profit organization whose vision is to become the leading running expert organization in the Middle East. Its races are by far the biggest and most popular sports events in Lebanon. Attendance and participation in the Beirut Marathon races continue to grow annually, and they command the attention of national and international media. It is a non-profit non-governmental organization registered under the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Lebanon. Beirut Marathon is an annual event that takes place in Beirut. The first ever BIM was held on October 19, 2003 and attracted over 6,000 runners from 49 different countries and tens of thousands of spectators in Lebanon and around the world. These numbers increased every year which became 32.000 runners in BLOM Beirut Marathon 2009 from 71 different countries, and over 37000 runners in 2014.
The race, created by businesswoman May El-Khalil, has the theme of unity at its core. Reaching out to all sides of the political spectrum in Lebanon, the day's events also include a 3 km race for MPs of any political allegiance, as well as members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon stationed in the country.
The 2010 edition of the men's race was won by the pacemaker Mohamed Temam. Hussein Awadah broke the Lebanese record at the race that year, completing the distance in at time of 2:20:31. The course was altered to make it faster and easier to organise at the 2011 edition and the men's and women's record were both improved that year; Seada Kedir knocked over five minutes off the women's best time.
It is sponsored by the BLOM Bank.
Past winners
'Key: Course record