This post is for the jogging enthusiasts out there!
It is the story of two different fun runs, one in Lebanon and one in Pakistan. First the Fun Run in Lebanon via Enough:
Disabled people in wheelchair’s, fathers pushing their children in strollers, cool guys in tight T-shirts and designer sunglasses … at least 20,000 Lebanese took part in a run Sunday to demonstrate unity after two months of political turmoil.
Under a warm spring sun, the runners set off from Beirut’s Riad Solh Square on a five-kilometer (3.1-mile) course that passed near the seafront boulevard where former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 19 others were killed in a massive bomb attack on Feb. 14. They finished at Martyrs’ Square, the scene of a demonstration that brought down the government and numerous other protests during the past seven weeks.
And, now after the riot last week over women running in the same race as men, the next planned run in Pakistan is going to be scheduled on a university campus. It is still not clear where all of the protesters were from who clashed with runners and police in last week’s race:
No tribesmen were involved in the attack on the women’s marathon in Gujranwala, said Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, central Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader. He told BBC that the authorities had arrested some Pushtoons in a raid on a seminary to give the incident a new twist. Hafiz Hussain said that President Pervez Musharraf wanted to present himself as a liberal and moderate leader to the world. The MMA leader alleged that the government had nabbed seminary students and was portraying them as terrorists. The Punjab law minister had informed the Punjab Assembly that only three out of the 43 people arrested belonged to Gujranwala while the rest had been transported from the tribal areas.