Some 2,200 years ago, Carthaginian military commander Hannibal – who some maintain is of Phoenician descent – set out to defeat the Romans by attacking from the north, through the chilly and hostile Alps. During this journey, on which he was followed by 60,000 troops, horses and three-dozen war elephants, Hannibal, as legend has it, issued his famous war cry in Latin: “Viam inveniam aut faciam” – I shall find a way or make one.

A couple of millennia later, and a group of Lebanese extreme sports enthusiasts are echoing the great warrior’s call as they organize the country’s first mud and obstacle run, the Hannibal Race 2014, scheduled for Sept. 7 in Zaarour, Mount Lebanon. The more-than 1,500 participants certainly won’t be risking their lives as Hannibal did – the Lebanese Navy Seals will be stationed around the race making sure of that – but they will have to crawl hand-and-knee through mud fields, scale walls and flip truck tires on a 7 km course through the mountains to the north of Beirut. [Link]