Rachel Smalley completes Beirut Marathon

The official Beirut Marathon website says Smalley finished in 04:25:34. Photo / Twitter

Rachel Smalley has completed the Beirut Marathon, summing up the experience with the words: "What a trip, what a race, what a city".

The New Zealand journalist and Newstalk ZB radio host tweeted a photo of herself running the marathon in the early hours of this morning.

What a trip, what a race, what a city. @GetRunningNZ #BeirutMarathon #ForgottenMillions #Syria #runningforrefugees pic.twitter.com/FnPXgd2lOn

— Rachel Smalley (@Rachel_Smalley) November 11, 2015

The official Beirut Marathon website says she finished in 04:25:34.

Smalley was part of a team of Kiwis running the 42km race through the hot streets of the Lebanese capital as part of World Vision's Forgotten Millions campaign.

On the eve of the marathon, Smalley tweeted: "...23'C forecast tomorrow. Sheesh. One more sleep."

The eve of the @BeirutMarathon ...23'C forecast tomorrow. Sheesh. One more sleep. #ForgottenMillions pic.twitter.com/TSxt4mU4Hm

— Rachel Smalley (@Rachel_Smalley) November 7, 2015

New Zealand's Get Running "Beirut" team were also down to visit refugee camps on the border in the days leading up to the run to meet some of the people they were raising money for.

The Forgotten Millions campaign, run by the Herald and World Vision, raised $436,000 for refugees in March.

The campaign was then relaunched in September amid the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe.

It raised a further $645,000, taking the combined total of donations for refugees to more than $1 million.

Smalley has reported on the refugee crisis from parts of Europe and the Middle East this year.

In three years working with World Vision, she has also met Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraqi Kurdistan.

"It's not easy," she said earlier this year. "Some of their stories of what they've seen and what they've fled are horrifying."