On Sunday September 2nd 2007, the Inter-Lebanon Road Runners Association (RRA) organized the 5th edition of a semi-marathon called “Mother of All Races” in Kfardebian – Lebanon. The goal of this year’s race was “paying homage to the Lebanese army heroes”

The marathon was called « Mother of All Races » due to its difficulty and long distance: the runners were supposed to cross 21.1km on an altitude of 2000m, not to mention the high temperature in Kfardebian, the lack of oxygen caused by the absence of trees, and the three very arduous slopes of more than 3km.

Apart from the brilliant Lebanese runners, assiduous runners from different age categories and numerous nationalities participated to this race: they came from different countries – like Jordan, Serbia, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, France, England, and Canada etc – particularly for this great adventure. Moreover, the presence of the Lebanese Army in this marathon was remarkable, due to the fact that the runners Hussein Awada and Omar Abdel Latif came respectively 2nd and 3rd in the overall classification. As for the 1st place, it was won by the Jordanian professional runner Sleiman Mohammad al-Ghodran (1h 10mn 58s). Women’s participation in this semi-marathon was very important as well. But this time, it is the Ukrainian runner Maryna Dubrova who won the 1st place (1h 25mn 11s), followed by the Lebanese runners Maria-Pia Nehmé and May Zeidan respectively in the 2nd and 3rd places.

The feeling of extreme exhaustion invaded the finish line. The runners were making comments from everywhere: “This race was so difficult, at a certain point, I wasn’t able to continue”, “it was so hard, I can’t go on anymore!” Also, they said that “every marathon is a new experience for them, and that such marathons need a lot of training to be able to endure in such hard conditions like the ones of this race”.

As for the spectators, they said that they were very delighted and proud to have “such a high level of marathons in our little country”, “It’s a professional marathon, well done!” It is worth noting that the Lebanese marathons are listed among the hardest marathons in the world.

Monetary prices were offered to the first three of each age and sex category. And trophies with the name of the marathon as well as other consistent numerous prices were given to the winners of all 17 categories. Also, t-shirts and medals were handed to all the runners on the finish line.

The marathon « Mother of All Races » was sponsored by Bankers Assurance Society, the member of the international group Nasco Karaoglan. And the logistical needs were supplied by “Beirut Marathon Association” (BMA), the municipality of Kfardebian, Faraya Mzaar Society, the Lebanese Army, and last but not least, the ISF.

Finally, this race is considered as a preparation phase before the Berlin Marathon that will take place on September 30. Six male and female runners of the RRA and the Lebanese Army will participate to this race, including Maria-Pia Nehmé and Omar Abdel Latif (Lebanese Army) who will represent Lebanon.