#Beirutmarathon: On Bringing People Together and The Politics of Sportsmanship

The Blom Bank Beirut Marathon brought together over 47,859 runners from 105 nationalities in its 15th edition, which took place on the morning of November 19. But the twist this year came after Lebanese President Michel Aoun encouraged runners to call on PM Saad Hariri, a regular participant in previous editions of the marathon, to return to Lebanon, which resulted in many participants holding signs and wearing T-shirts and caps supporting the latter and urging him to come back. The event itself, coupled with its aforementioned political undertones, prompted the corresponding hashtag to the top of Twitter’s trends in Lebanon on the day of the event, with people tweeting their running experience and observations live from the streets of Beirut.