Fleet of foot

"Mark your calendars," says Mayor and competitive runner Nir Barkat. The Jerusalem Marathon is going to become an annual event.

By BARRY DAVIS
Runners in the Jerusalem Marathon 521 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Runners in the Jerusalem Marathon 521
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Clearly, something was afoot – literally.
Normally, at seven o’clock on a Friday morning Derech Beit Lehem is already bustling with shoppers trying to get an early start on their Shabbat-related chores, and the traffic is thick. However, last Friday one might have been forgiven for wondering whether Yom Kippur had come early or if US President Barack Obama had motorcaded into town. The streets around Baka, the German Colony and the city center were taped off, and there was a large number of police officers and security personnel lining the streets, making sure no cars or pedestrians strayed onto the road. Still, like presidential visits or Yom Kippur, such developments are generally a cyclist’s paradise. Apart from the odd caution from mildly agitated and bored policemen for bikers to cycle on the sidewalk, not on the road, the route through town to the start and finish point of the Jerusalem Marathon in Sacher Park was blissfully unobstructed.
The full marathon runners had already set off by the time I wheeled my way down Rehov Bezalel, and the participants from all over the country – and 40 other countries around the world – represented a surprisingly wide range of ages, demeanor and attire.
Some radiated seriousness and looked determined to complete the 42-plus-km. route come what may, while others appeared to be delighted just to be there and to take part in a festive occasion. One group of male runners ran in makeshift grass skirts and wigs, while just behind them three runners carried “Free Gilad Schalit” flags. Onlookers behind the red plastic cordons clapped and cheered the runners on, and athletes responded with a wave, smile or grimace or in Hebrew or heavily accented English.
Meanwhile, down at the park, towering loudspeakers blasted out frenetic musical walls of sound patently designed to gee-up the throngs of runners awaiting the start of their sections. Thousands of half-marathon, 10-km. and 4.2-km. course participants – all told, around 10,000 took part in the Jerusalem Marathon – limbered up either in an effort to get their muscles ready for the forthcoming exertions or simply to keep warm as the unseasonably cold wind rippled the surface of the puddles that dotted the muddy park lawns. There was also a bunch of Shalva Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel special-needs children preparing for their 400-meter run. The 4.2-km. part of the event was sponsored by the Israel Cancer Association, with all proceeds from the section going to the association.
Last Wednesday’s bomb attack outside Binyenei Ha’uma did not seem to have had a detrimental effect on attendance, with home and foreign runners up for the event. “My son is studying here, and I was determined to come and do the run with him,” said James Zimmer, who had arrived from the UK the day before the event and was busy asking people to take photos of him and his 16-year-old son in their identical running strips. “I have done the half marathon in Jerusalem before and the London marathon, and I have been looking forward to doing this run with Joe for some time.”
Zimmer said he hadn’t considered not coming to Israel in the wake of the attack. “Life has to go on, whatever happens. This is a great race, and I wasn’t going to miss it.”
Forty-one-year-old Jerusalemite Ilan Hadad had an even younger offspring to accompany him on the 10-km. stretch, his 12-year-old daughter, Anat. “I have done a few runs already,” said Givat Masua resident Anat proudly. “I have done the [cross-country] Gezer run and the Begin run, too. I came first in the Begin race.”
Like Zimmer, Brock Wright from Utah was unperturbed by last week’s bomb attack. “I am in a group of over 20 runners from all over the States,” said 20- something Wright. “We’re all studying in Jerusalem right now, and we’re on the 10 km. run. I guess the organizers decided it was okay for us to run in Jerusalem, so I’m fine with that.”
Meanwhile, the half-marathon participants started approaching the start line, with Mayor Nir Barkat jostling for position among them. Two hours 27 minutes and 37 seconds after the thousands of half marathon runners set off, Barkat returned to Sacher Park to announce that the run would become an annual event, and he called on runners from around the globe to mark March 16, 2012, in their sports diaries for the second annual Jerusalem Marathon extravaganza.
An enthused Barkat went on to say that “Jerusalem is now on the international marathon map.
This impressive and exciting event is not only a sporting event, but it also provides Jerusalem with an economic boost and brings large numbers of tourists to the capital. We have decided to make the run a tradition, just like the great marathon races of the world, in New York, Berlin and Paris.”
Indeed, the municipality spokesperson said that more than 1,000 people had come to Israel especially to run in the Jerusalem Marathon and that all the city’s hotels were full, with 4,000 accommodation bookings recorded over the marathon weekend. The spokesperson added that the visitors had been offered tailored tourist packages, with special offers for cultural venues and restaurants around Jerusalem. The press also showed interest in the event, with about 50 journalists from around the world jetting in to cover the run.
At the business end of the run, African athletes dominated the marathon section, with Raymond Kipkoech of Kenya coming in first in the men’s race, with a time of 2 hours 26 minutes and 44 seconds, followed by compatriots Kipkorir Mutai and Njoroge Kimaniael with times of 2 hours 26 minutes and 55 seconds and 2 hours 27 minutes and 19 seconds, respectively. There was a tight finish among the women, with Worknesh Ode of Ethiopia the first woman home in 2 hours 50 minutes and 5 seconds, with Kenyan Rosalein Devid coming in just one second later, while Kryza Wiolette of Poland placed third in 2 hours 51 minutes and 21 seconds.