BEIRUT, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain's Eunice Chumba won the women's marathon with a course record of 2:28:38, while Dominic Ruto from Kenya also set a 2:10:41 course record in the men's marathon. Both picked up 3,000 U.S dollar bonuses for breaking the course record.
Lebanon's top finisher in the men's race was Hussein Awada, who came in ninth. Nisrine Njiem led the Lebanese athletes in the women's race with a tenth place finish.
Lebanese first lady Nadia Aoun participated in the 8 kilometer Fun Run and officially started the para-athletes race.
Australian Ambassador to Lebanon Glenn Miles was the sole ambassador to run the full marathon, while U.K. Ambassador Hugo Shorter was among other diplomats running in the 21 kilometer race.
Since the marathon's inception in 2003, 393,000 runners from 105 countries and regions have participated and more than $1.3 million has been raised for various causes. Organizers say that the 2017 competition drew 45,000 participants, with the winners of the men's and women's races each taking home some $10,000 in prize money. This year, more than 4,400 volunteers helped the various races run smoothly.
