JERUSALEM—Showing that life goes on despite five months of war, Israel hosted its first major sporting event since Oct. 7, 2023. The Jerusalem Marathon drew 40,000 participants, including 1,800 from foreign countries.
Instead of being overshadowed by the country’s participation in the ongoing Israel–Hamas war, the mood at the finish line in Sacher Park on March 8 was festive.
Music pounded. Tens of thousands watched there and along the 26.2-mile route. Runners met up with family and friends to celebrate after finishing.
Most runners ran shorter distances, including a half-marathon, a 10K, and a 5K family fun run.
“We have to continue our life,” Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said after the race, held annually since 2011 except for in 2020, during the pandemic. “This marathon is saying we continue our life as usual.”
He acknowledged Israel’s continued mourning for the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre and for soldiers who have fallen since.
“But we must continue our life,” Mr. Lion said.
“You see here 40,000 people who came today, not only from Jerusalem but from all [of] Israel.”
Israeli security was up to the challenge, he said. No disturbances marred the day.
The war—and international misgivings about Israel’s assault on Gaza to take out Hamas, the terrorist group that carried out the Oct. 7 attack—has crushed Israeli tourism, Mr. Lion said.
Top international runners stayed away. The top finishers in both the men’s and women’s marathons were almost all Israeli. The men’s winning time was nearly 20 minutes off the course record of 2 hours, 16 minutes, 9 seconds, set by Kenyan Ronald Kurgat in 2014.
“It will take time [to rebuild tourism],” Mr. Lion said. “But we will bring the tourists here.”
He said he anticipates Jewish tourists coming for Passover in Jerusalem.
A marathon spokeswoman who asked not to be named said it took a while to decide to hold the event.
“It was a really tough decision because of this situation,” she said. “But in the end, they decided that for the morale of the people who live in Jerusalem and for the whole country, they wanted to do it.
“And it looks like it was the right decision because, eventually, we broke the record with the number of runners.”
Of the 40,000 participants, about 1,500 ran the full marathon, she said.
“We need this now in Israel,” the spokeswoman said.
The hostages held by Hamas—more than 130 people, some who are alive and some who have died—were on people’s minds. Many at the event wore yellow ribbons calling for their return. Mr. Lion wore a blue ribbon, which he said marked the sexual abuse suffered by hostages and victims of the massacre.
Several hundred people ran in honor of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the spokeswoman said. The 23-year-old was kidnapped at the Nova music festival, and his family was the first of the hostages’ families to receive a call from President Joe Biden after the massacre, she said.
The marathon’s start was marked by the unfurling of a 300-square-meter (roughly 3,229-square-foot) Israeli flag. Pre-race festivities kicked off with music at 6:29 a.m., the moment air raid sirens in Israel first blared on Oct. 7, 2023.
Melkamu Jember, 33, an Ethiopian Israeli, crossed the marathon finish line first, posting a time of 2:35:39. Another Israeli, Nega Mekete, finished second about six minutes later.
Israeli Noah Berkman, 35, won the women’s marathon with a time of 2:55:42. Runner-up Elena Tolstykh, from Russia, finished in 2:58:22.
Top finishers were treated to massages in a health tent sponsored by Reidman College, a holistic health college in Tel Aviv, according to its director, Gitta Mazouz.
Kimberly Clark and her husband, Tyler Underwood, came to Israel from San Diego to run the half-marathon while pushing their 2-year-old daughter, Clark Underwood, in a stroller. The toddler, they said, ran the last 100 yards.
Mr. Underwood is one of the top 200 or so marathoners in the United States and received an invitation to the Olympic trials this summer. He went in 2020 but didn’t make the team. Only the top 3 finishers get to go to the Olympics, he said.
Ms. Clark operates a runner’s blog with 290,000 followers.
The couple talked about their decision to come to Israel for the marathon despite the war.
“We love Israel,” Ms. Clark said. “We love to support Israel. There’s always some type of conflict in the Middle East. It’s a complicated situation.”
She was in Israel in 2006 for two weeks with family on a church trip, she said, when Israel went to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Halfway through our trip, the border shut down,” Ms. Clark recalled. “But I felt totally safe in Israel. You hear a lot in the media. But the feeling of being here is totally different. It feels completely safe.
“And I like, as a woman, that I feel like I can walk through the streets by myself if I needed to without fearing for my safety. It’s just a very safe place, especially Jerusalem.”
She called this year’s turnout of 40,000 runners “amazing.”
Ms. Clark acknowledged that the best foreign runners didn’t participate.
“Hopefully, in the future, they'll come back,” she said.
Jerusalem—a challenging marathon course with a lot of hills—is unlikely to be a place where a runner will set a world record, Ms. Clark said. But runners come, regardless, if the prize money is good enough.
Mr. Underwood said that because of the course’s difficulty, he was impressed with the winning time.
The San Diego couple’s decision to attend was not without repercussions, they said.
Ms. Clark asked The Epoch Times not to publish her blog’s name because she said she had experienced online bullying after posting her plans to run in Israel.
“I’ve gotten a lot of hate,” she said.
Leora Leder, a chiropractor who lives in Jerusalem, said she has been running the Jerusalem Marathon for years. This was her first time running with her daughter, Raphaela, 14.
Ms. Leder, who said she participated “for the hostages,” wore a yellow ribbon that read “Running for their freedom.”
She said she knew that there were worries about violence, especially with Ramadan about to start. Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer for Muslims worldwide, is being celebrated this year from the evening of March 10 through April 9.
Ms. Leder said that this was the first time in her 28 years of living in Israel that she had worried about the start of what marks the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. But, she said, she was confident that the events connected with the Jerusalem Marathon would have adequate security.
Ms. Leder noted that marathon organizers opened the event to any soldier who wanted to run, and many took advantage of the opportunity.
Paul Pessen, who finished fourth in the men’s marathon with a time of 2:47, said his only concerns about participating were athletic ones. He was still sore after running a marathon in Seville, Spain.
But, he said, the Jerusalem Marathon is the marathon he likes the most.
“It’s my capital city,” Mr. Pessen said.
“And it was my first marathon [that I ever ran]. The environment here is amazing.”
