Nesrine Lee

“Every year, I run the marathon in Beirut and in Utrecht: two places where I feel at home in this world”, Nesrine says. She ran her fastest time yet in Utrecht four years ago. She loves the section that goes under the Dom Church, although the cobblestones make running more difficult. The marathon in Beirut starts at 7 o’clock in the morning every year, before it gets really hot. Two courses with different challenges. Nesrine explains that Lebanon, where she was born, is a country with fewer rules than the Netherlands. The strongest always wins, even when it’s only a question of crossing a junction. It’s possible that this mentality helps Nesrine when she is running a marathon.

It is never peaceful in Lebanon, according to Nesrine, but that is something that has become ‘normal’ for its inhabitants. “I used not even to look up if I heard a bomb exploding in the distance. It actually isn’t a surprise for me nowadays either; I go there twice a year and I don’t scare easily.” Whether it is safe to travel or not: it doesn’t stop Nesrine. She feels at home there. “And my parents still live there, so I continue to go.”

Read more at: https://www.uitagendautrecht.nl/en/nesrine-leene/