Run Club Beirut… a lesson in connection

Running in a community goes beyond fitness, bringing people together through shared goals, mutual encouragement and a sense of belonging that makes every step more meaningful. Run Club Beirut joined forces with the Sabah el Kheir podcast for a special group run, followed by a talk from psychiatrist Dr. Georges Karam on the mental-health benefits of moving together.

The idea began with a first-time experience. Podcaster and influencer Linda Christina recalled that a friend once invited her to a group run, something she had only glimpsed in videos. “Maybe I was a little bit nervous to do a five kilometer run and just join everyone,” she told The Beiruter. “But I ended up going and I had the best time ever.”

She promptly messaged the organizers and met Jack Kassabian, Hikmat Khattar and Christopher Saab. “I asked them, ‘How can we do something together? Because this is such a great thing that you guys are doing,’” she recalled.

The pieces fell into place through a previous episode of her podcast. Dr. Karam had spoken at length about the value of running not alone but in a group, surrounded by social connection. “I felt like it only made sense to have him join this run,” Christina explained, and give a talk on mental health, on moving the body and on making new friends through activities beyond the usual dinners and outings.

The weather cooperated, T-shirts were handed out, and the atmosphere stayed warm. “It really felt super community,” Christina said. She praised the Run Club team for making organization feel effortless. “I don’t think I could have done it with anyone other than them,” she explained. “It just felt like a group of best friends doing something together.”

Kassabian estimated that between 120 and 150 people attended.” The crowd spanned generations, from Gen Z to older participants, and nationalities as well. “There were foreigners living in Lebanon, from the Netherlands and Armenia,” he noted, along with people visiting or working in the country temporarily.

The program opened with Khattar walking participants through the route, followed by Christina’s remarks on the collaboration’s purpose. Dr. Karam’s talk, she observed, “set the intention for the run,” and the response was warm. “People received it really well.”

The club’s philosophy

For the Run Club team, the morning distilled their identity. Kassabian called the event “like a summary, a résumé” of what the club is. “Our principle, as we always say, is to bring people together through movement, through sport,” he explained. “We don’t just come to run and head home. We come to run and get to know each other.”

He described Dr. Karam’s presence as “the cherry on top,” because it underlined how deeply exercise affects mental well-being. The social dimension, in his view, matters most. “If you’re running alone and someone is standing next to you, let them support you, because that’s how things go in life.”

Saab pointed to the club’s growth as proof. In the year and a half since its founding, beginners who once ran for five minutes are now training for the full Beirut Marathon. “Everyone is welcome,” he explained. “You see people from every level.” The talks serve a practical purpose too. “Creating this interaction breaks the ice for people who come for the first time,” he said. Beyond the physical benefits, the club cultivates connection.

The club keeps one unwritten rule. “In Run Club Beirut we never talk politics, nothing about religion,” Khattar noted. “We’re all like one big family.”

Nor is the club about performance. Echoing Dr. Karam, Saab stressed that running goes “way beyond the score on your Strava,” whether distance, time or speed. “We’re not here to compare each other,” he expressed. The goal is to benefit both body and mind. As the doctor explained, exercise releases endorphins, which may be particularly relevant for people experiencing anxiety or depression

A shared mission

Christina saw the success of the partnership as a product of aligned values. Her podcast, she explained, exists to host conversations on important and even taboo subjects. Her latest episode tackled the “fall scaries,” the mental heaviness that can accompany the end of summer, busier routines and gloomier weather. “I wanted to keep bringing that even in the fall,” she said. “To make people always feel like there’s a place where we can talk about anything and do things together. No one’s alone.”

She also contrasted the polished highlights of social media with real life. “We’re all human,” she said. “We need to connect with each other to constantly feel better.” Seeing 150 people in person, rather than 100 views on a story, brought home the scale of what a community can achieve. “The intentions were all there from all our sides.”

Kassabian confirmed that collaborations with NGOs and student organizations are already part of the club’s routine, and that this partnership will not be the last. “We’ll do many stories this year,” he promised. The next event arrives on Wednesday, when the club teams up with Capoeira, the Women’s Cancer Foundation and OLG for a breast cancer awareness run at Beirut Souks. A resident and a nurse specializing in oncology will speak about symptoms and prevention, in keeping with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As the conversation closed, the team extended an invitation to every person, reminding that “all levels are welcome.”