Jerusalem Marathon- March 16, 2012

Shalom runners: What a day. We (Ben, Ross and I) walked to the start. Met up with a runner from Johannesburg South Africa. Shea is visting family in Isreal.

The runners here today (or at least the ones I talked to are Jewish) some were born in New York and moved here. The guy in the liquour store was born in Toronto but moved here with his family 13 years ago.

Anyway,  back to the race report. It was overcast as we walked to the start. Found the press tent and stored our stuff,quick  portolet check, then off to the start line.

It started to rain, then  the dowhill began  followed by an uphill. Iwas taking pictures  along the route. The hills were non stop, and the wind was  not stop.
The views were non stop so that kept the race fun.

I was going  to mention the effen route. Fun and festive.

All  along the course are the soldiers and guns. It becomes a way of life here to carry guns.

But I always felt safe. A lot of the runners I  spoke to ( speak  English btw) and alot of them have run this before.

I  also passed 4 visually impaired (blind) runners with their guide.

This is a  very hilly course, but the k’s went bye quickly.  The wind was non stop, but that helped blow dry your clothes from the rain. I will post pictures of the excellent scenery later.

We rain through the old city and disrupted a few tourists.

I was given  bananas and  one volunteer section was giving dates as well.

The winner, from Kenya won with a course record of 2:19.

The day was sunny,  rainy,  and hilly. The hills never stopped and the wind never stopped.

This was my 51st marathon and although  it may have been the toughest, my recovery time was good. I  would run  this again, because the scenery and tecture of the route is not comparable to other events.

Finish time 4:36… Memory is metzuyan (excellent)