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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Peace, hope, and the marathon
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Peace, hope, and the marathon

May El Khalil, the woman behind the Beirut Marathon

The Beirut MarathonPremium
The Beirut Marathon

I had heard awesome stories about the Beirut Marathon and its gutsy founder, and then out of the blue, I meet a lovely lady at a function—May El Khalil—the woman behind the marathon. I gulp, as much at the coincidence, as at the fact that she is so pretty—as in movie-star pretty—and there is this enigmatic energy that radiates from her, as if there is an inner battery working overtime.

That long-distance runners are made of sterner stuff than you and me, this much I know from talking to many of them. But May, it seems, is made of something else altogether. One early morning in November 2001, out training for an upcoming marathon, she was hit by an out-of-control bus, her body crushed between the wall and the vehicle, her life teetering on the brink. From this hopeless starting point, she has gone on to create a remarkable marathon that is now a symbol of hope, peace and unity, in a country that has seen so much conflict and destruction.

Lebanon, as you know, is smack in the centre of warring nations—Syria engulfs it on the north and east, Israel and Palestine border the south—and the country itself is divided by umpteen stripes of politics and religion. May’s vision? Get people who habitually fight each other to let go of their deep-rooted animosities for a day, and run side by side for the marathon. And that’s exactly what she has accomplished.

May El Khalil
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May El Khalil

Where did she find this kind of strength? All of us have it, she believes, hidden somewhere, and when you go through serious calamities, you find it. “And then it shines," she says. Weren’t there moments of doubt? You bet, she went through the “Why me? What have I done? Am I being punished?" phase, but once she accepted the reality, she looked ahead.

“I wanted something bigger than my accident, something to lift me out of my pain and sorrow, an objective to focus on," she says. “I didn’t want to pity myself, or be pitied by others."

November 2003, two years after her accident, the first marathon took place with 6,000 runners from 49 nationalities. Over the years it has grown from strength to strength. In 2012, its 10th anniversary, in the midst of very difficult weather conditions, 33,000 runners from 85 nationalities showed up. In 2005, when former prime minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated, she organized a 5km run for peace, and 60,000 people participated.

Why such large numbers, given the risks? The marathon has taken on a deeper meaning well beyond the “running" itself. “It is amazing the support we have," she says. “It is the only platform nowadays to show the world our will and desire to live in peace." She believes “the power of goodness is much bigger than the destructive spirit that is going around". It reminds me of Gandhian methods.

So how does she go about negotiating a marathon route in a city divided by so many political and religious factions? She gives me a quick lesson in Lebanese politics by way of background. There are two major parties: the March 14 Alliance (these are allies of the US and Europe) and the March 8 Alliance (allies of Syria and Iran). Each alliance in turn consists of several entities. The Hezbollah, for example, is a major part of the March 8 Alliance. “To make my marathon happen I had to make sure I contacted and visited people from both parties," she says.

Just the morning we spoke, May had visited the Hezbollah area—the marathon route crosses their stronghold—to make sure “they were comfortable with so many runners going through their area" given there was an explosion some days ago. Clearly, organizing a marathon in Beirut is a complex job, and my respect for her determination, and her ability to engage with all sides, shoots up.

I am curious if she can run again? She willed herself to try running this summer but her body can no longer take the pounding. In fact, she is in constant pain—you would never guess from her smiling face—but her work keeps her so busy she has no time to dwell on her pain. “It’s all in the mind," she says. Sure, the power of the mind over the body is something every marathon runner recognizes.

Everything happens for a reason, she tells me philosophically. How so, May? “Maybe if it wasn’t for the accident the marathon would not have happened," she says. “Maybe it wouldn’t have taken this pure direction of running for peace and unity."

We are at the end of our interview and I ask her if she has any words for India? “You have exported to the world the message of peace," she says. “Gandhi was not only for Indians, but an icon for the world. He changed the concept of using power through ugly war to changing the world through forgiveness and peace." Coming from someone else they may have been mere words, but coming from her you know she means it—she is waging her own version of peace through running.

She wants to invite you, dear reader, to the Beirut marathon.

Radha Chadha is one of Asia’s leading marketing and consumer insight experts. She is the author of the best-selling book The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair With Luxury.

Also Read | Radha’s previous Lounge columns

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Published: 07 Sep 2013, 12:02 AM IST
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