Lama Hattab (born December 31, 1980) is a Middle Eastern ultramarathon runner from Jordan.[1][2] Hattab and her twin sister, Dima Hattab are known for being the first females from the Middle East to run an ultramarathon.[1][3] She is also a leader in "Generation of Peace" in Amman, Jordan.[1]

Early life

change

Hattab is a twin.[2] She and her sister Dima have many hobbies that they do together.[4] They grew up in Tabarbour, Jordan, near Amman.[4]

Hattab graduated from the University of Amman.[5] She studied Information Technology.[5]

Sports

change

Hattab and her sister love sports. They like to run and to cycle.[4] They look for new sports to try.[4]

Running

change

Hattab and her sister run marathons and ultramarathons.[2][1][6][7] She ran in the Marathon de Sables and the Dead Sea ultramarathon.[8] Men were not nice to them at the marathons.[6] Hattab won the Dead Sea Marathon the first time she ran it.[1] Hattab encourages running in the Middle East, especially among young girls. [8] She is also a leader in Generation of Peace an organization in Amman, Jordan.[1] Hattab also ran in the Dead Sea in 1999 where she placed in 3rd.[7]

Hattab and her sister together ran in the national team of Jordan.[1] They were around 17 or 18 years old.[1] She ran distance races, including 800-meter and 1500 meter runs.[1] In her first half marathon, she ran her and her sister did not sign up.[1] They were among the first Jordanian women to run in marathons.[1] Their coach was in the desert but couldn’t make the race she was planning on running with her friends.[1] She changed the names and told the Hattab twins to run slow as part of their training.[1]

Mountaineering

change

Hattab also loves mountaineering.[9] She and her sister wanted to be the first Arab women to be mountaineers in the Guinness Book of World Records.[4] They hoped to climb the tallest mountain on each continent.[5][9] In 2007, the twins went to Alaska, USA, to train to climb mountains.[2]

First, Hattab and her sister climbed the highest mountain in North Africa's Atlas Mountains.[9] In 2007, Jordan's Prince Faisal Bin Al-Hussein started a "Generations for Peace Initiative."[9] The twins climbed the mountain to get attention for the Generations for Peace Initiative.[9] They liked mountain climbing and want to climb more mountains.[9] The Jordanian Olympics Committee said their climb was good for peace.[9]

Their dream was to climb Mt. Everest.[5] Jordan's King Abdullah's "Development Fund" help pay for their climb.[6] But they could not get enough money to make the climb.[6] They needed US$750,000.[4] Companies did not think women can do sports, so did not give them money.[4]

Career

change

Hattab worked for the Jodanian Olympic Committee.[10] At work she learned about an organization called Generations for Peace.[10] In 2007, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan started that organization.[11][12] The organization used sports and art to help young people make peace in places with war or other conflict..[10][1] She volunteered to work with children.[10] She liked it and began to work for Generations for peace in 2009.[10] Hattab is now the Program Director for Generations for Peace. [13][1][14]

References

change
  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Lama Hattab the Program Director for 'Generations for Peace' guest-stars, retrieved 2023-01-17
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Taha, K. (2007, April 11). Twin peaks: Jordan's adventure girls set their sights high. Agence France-Presse. Available from NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.
  3. "Dima and Lama Hattab Jordanian marathoners without peer". The Unlimited Twins. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Maayeh, Suha (2008-07-01). "Jordanian sisters set sights high". The National. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Dos jordanas, primeras alpinistas árabes". abc (in Spanish). 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Ürdünlü ikizlerin hedefi Guinness Rekorlar Kitabı'na girmek". www.hurriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Celebrating Amazing Women". Tumblr. December 31, 2016. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Dima Hattab: ultramaratonista xordana | Biography, Facts, Information, Career, Wiki, Life". peoplepill.com. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Jordanian twins climb Mount Toubkal in morocco. (2010, Jan 31). Petra Jordan News Agency Retrieved from ProQuest.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Generations for Peace teams with Gary Comer Youth Center to train leaders – Sports Philanthropy Network". Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  11. "Generations For Peace ranked #1 Social Good Organisation for Peacebuilding in Arab countries and #25 in the world". Jordan Times. 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  12. "About Us". Generations For Peace. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  13. Saleh, Sawsan Shaikh (2019). "The Jordan Olympic Committee's approach to education". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  14. "2015-GFP-Bio-Lama-hattab-English-Generations For Peace-NGO-non-profit-Employee-programes-director". Generations For Peace. Retrieved 2023-02-16.