It’s an autumn morning, well before dawn. A handful of cars pull into an otherwise empty car park. The city is still asleep. Doors open and people step out, all wearing the same black T-shirt emblazoned with the number 963. It is Syria’s country code – and the name of a recently formed running club.
“No matter what happens, I’ll be super-proud of everyone today,” says Rettaj Shaheen, closing her car door behind her.
Someone nods and smiles while tightening their shoelaces one last time. Someone else pins a race bib to the front of their shirt.
It is the morning of the Damascus Marathon, organised for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. The race will begin shortly after dawn.
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Talia Ibrahim, a member of the 963 Run Club founded in Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime. All photos: Jenny Gustafsson -
Ghaith Kanawati, in brown T-shirt, co-founder of the club, many members of which participated in the first Damascus Marathon in September 2025 -
The starting line of the 2025 Damascus Marathon -
The course covers 21.1km and is completed twice by those running the full marathon -
Marathon runners pass by the army headquarters building in Damascus, which was bombed in July 2025 -
A runner trains at the multi-use Tishreen Stadium in Damascus; the next marathon is in November 2026 -
Jawad Ibrahim, left, co-founder of 963 Run Club, leads a training session in Tishreen Park
More people arrive, joining the small crowd. Each is greeted by Jawad Ibrahim and Ghaith Kanawati, founders of the club. More than two years ago, after realising they were running the same streets, they began organising weekly training sessions. The group has since grown and now regularly attracts more than 50 runners. “We didn’t have a running culture here before, but it is starting now,” Kanawati says.
The runners make their way to the start line, where a few hundred people have already gathered. Some have travelled from neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, including a group of Malaysian friends studying Arabic in Amman, but most are Syrians living either at home or abroad. Organiser Ala Aldin Meriden describes this first event as “version zero” and hopes the marathon will become an annual fixture.
The course covers 21.1km – the standard half-marathon distance – and is completed twice by those running the full marathon. The route winds through the Old City, zigzagging along the alleys of Souq Al Hamidiyah, past the Umayyad and Sayyidah Ruqayya mosques, and along the ancient Straight Street.
On some Friday mornings, members of 963 Club run parts of the same historic route. Most sessions end with coffee at a cafe.
Today, after completing 42.2km around the city, they will gather once more – not only for coffee, but for a proper Damascus breakfast of foul, hummus and eggs.
The next Damascus Marathon will take place in November
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