- 12:10
Tomorrow, Sunday, Jounieh will wake up to the sound of footsteps, shouts of support, and stopwatches going wild. For the 10th edition of the Women’s Race organized by the Beirut Marathon Association, presided over by May el-Khalil, the start and finish arches will be set up around the Fouad Chehab sports complex, in partnership with the municipality, for a morning that is 100% running, 100% inclusive.
For several days now, the teams of the Beirut Marathon Association have been chaining technical meetings, setting up tents and infrastructure, testing timing systems and distributing bibs in a dedicated center in Jnah. On the ground, nothing is left to chance: secured course, clear signage, briefed volunteers, emergency services mobilized… Jounieh is getting ready to become, for one Sunday morning, the Lebanese capital of running in the feminine.
The event, organized for the first time in 2013 and back in 2023 after a series of interruptions, is celebrating its tenth edition this year. Long contested over 10 kilometers, it is now refocused on a more accessible and more explosive distance of 5 kilometers, with a concept that remains the same: placing women at the heart of the race, while opening the course to a whole community of runners and walkers.
The program: from the 5 km that stings to the 1 km to share
From 6:30 a.m., the road will belong to women: the 5 km competition reserved for female participants will kick off the day. The best will try to go for a benchmark time, the others for pinning on a bib, living an experience, taking personal revenge. The time of the first woman to cross the finish line will be recorded as the first national women’s road 5 km record, a small piece of history written on the shores of Jounieh Bay.
At 7:30 a.m., it will be the men’s turn, also over a competitive 5 km, just to set the tone in terms of pace and density. At 8 a.m., a completely different scene will take over with a 1 km parents-and-children race that promises as many photos as drops of sweat: strollers, hands held tight, little hurried steps to cross the line as a family.
At 9:15 a.m., the “fun” 5 km will take over: a more relaxed pack, where some run, jog, walk, laugh and pose for friends on the side of the road. Finally, at 10:20 a.m., fans of gliding sensations will take to the stage for a festive 3 km on roller skates, a way to close the morning at a different tempo. The prize-giving ceremony for the top three women and the top three men is scheduled for 8 a.m., at the foot of the finish arch.
A decade of running in the feminine
This 2025 version of the Women’s Race has a special flavor. It is only the second time that Jounieh has hosted the race, after a first edition organized in the city in 2017. In the meantime, the concept has grown, travelled, withstood crises and interruptions, but the DNA remains the same: using sport as a lever for visibility, freedom and health for women.
Behind the scenes, the Beirut Marathon Association moves forward with the same obsession with detail: quality of timing, respect for international standards, welcome for foreign runners, medical and logistical support. Around the red and white arches, you will come across loyal volunteers from the great Beirut Marathon adventure, long-standing partners, familiar faces from Lebanese running, school and university clubs, associations that make use of the event to carry a social or awareness message.
On Sunday, the finish line will be more than just a ribbon to cross. Between the runners aiming for the podium, those targeting a first 5 km, the dads holding their children’s hands and the groups who come in matching T-shirts to run “for a cause”, it is an entire country that will try, for the duration of a few strides, to remember that it still knows how to move forward.
When Jounieh starts breathing to the rhythm of the strides
Beyond the distances and the official times, the Jounieh version of the Women’s Race above all tells the story of a city that opens its seafront to runners, women and men, early on a Sunday morning, when the cafés are barely waking up and the bay is still calm. A story of an organization intent on maintaining professional standards in a complicated context. And a story of women who line up at the start, number pinned on, to prove something to themselves as much as to others.
On Sunday, in Jounieh, the stopwatches will speak, the podiums will fill up, and the photos will flood social media. But the real result will not fit on a scoreboard: it will be read in this simple detail, when the city, for one morning, gives the road over to sneakers and admits that in Lebanon, despite everything, life goes on… by running.
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