The Middle East can get very hot, but winters are mild, like Spring in New York City –– the perfect weather for long distance running.
Some 40,000 runners, with 2,500 from abroad, participated in Israel’s biggest sporting event of the year. International guests included participants from China, Germany, Poland, Russia, US, UK, Italy, France and more, including a large delegation of elite international runners attempting to break the marathon record and potentially win a prize of $40,000. The standing record was set in 2015 by William Kiprono Yagon from Kenya at a time of 2:10:30.
This year, the Tel Aviv Marathon took participants on a stunning 42km route winding its way through the beating heart of the city. Runners started at the Tel Aviv Expo in northern Tel Aviv and then followed the route through many of the city’s most celebrated neighborhoods, including Sarona Market, Rabin Square and Old Jaffa – one of the most ancient port cities of the world.
The route also took runners along the white sandy beaches of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Tel Aviv Samsung Marathon continued this year to support social and community engagement, and encouraged marathon runners to take advantage of their participation to raise funds for charity. This year- Samsung pledged to match each calorie burnt by the runners with a similar calorie-rich food product it will donate to families in need. The calories were calculated on screens throughout the track. For example, if 500,000 calories were burned in total, these will be converted into thousands of food products that together contain 500,000 calories.
Ron Huldai, The Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo: “The Marathon, currently celebrating its 11th year, has become an acclaimed International event, standing in line with the great marathons in the world. We welcome the 2,500 runners who joined us from abroad to participate in the unique experience that we create annually in the city.”
