Flying out on Sunday

Shalom. is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.

 Peace, completeness and welfare are traits that all runners possess.

 Beth Agro and I instruct a Marathon Clinic at the Beaches Running Room in Toronto. Beth is an associate publisher  with iRun magazine.

 Last November  at the NewYork City Marathon, I represented  iRun magazine at the elite men’s  press conference. When I was not actually able to speak with one of the elite runners, I placed an iRun hat on the table when I took their picture.

 Fast forward to February of this year when the Isreali Tourist Bureau invited one of the iRun`s journalist to cover the Jerusalem Marathon, they thought about sending me and the iRun hat. So Beth brought me the proposal that I run the March 16, 2012 marathon.

 How cool is that. I did not hesitate to say yes.

 We all have a marathon destination we want to run. I have run an ultra Marathon in Iceland and  South Africa,  as well as  marathons in New York Chicago, Boston and London England as well as  Big Sur in  California.

The more I thought about the Jerusalem marathon, the more I became excited.  What a destination race.

 My travelling companions will be Ben Kaplan (a  3:08 marathon runner who will also be running Boston this April) and Sam Cohen who is running the half marathon in Jerusalem.

  The Jerusalem Marathon takes runners on a route that tests not only the most experienced of runners, but also on a unique path through history; through the city so holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims around the globe. Participants run on the cobblestones of the holy and ancient city, through the beautiful neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and through the modern city center of Israel’s capital. The views alone are enough to take one’s breath away. And I guess because, tho I haven’t seen the track. the elevation map is hilly

 The 42.2 km  marathon passes through the neighborhoods of central Jerusalem, continues from south to north, through the old city and past the walls of Jerusalem.

I hope to (will be) reporting back regularly  about my travels, the runners,  the food, not to mention the race.

 Before I talk about the food, one of my other passions (and one other reason I run is that I enjoy “hops and yeast“) There are 14 breweries  in Isreal. The most popular is Tempo lager.

However there are also a number of microbreweries….  one is named Dancing Camel.

 So stay tuned .