maybe the autorities should check who was behind those waterpoints or where the water supplied to the runners came from. My best wishes to all the runners for a soon recover. lehitraot

He ignored recommendation to cancel the event therefore he is ultimately responsible.

us aline - THANKS

Condolences to the family and friends of Sergeant Major Michael Michaelvich.

As a physician, this marathon should never have been allowed to go on. Mayor Huldai used very poor judgement and must at least resign. A young father and Chayal is in the ground as a result of his decision. The Attorney General should consider charging him with involuntary manslaughter. That will guarantee that others in positions of power never making similar decisions. Hamakom Yenachem et Hamishpacha

',,,,,, must be investigated to a tee, however, there has yet to be a marathon without injuries," Huldai said.........." RIP. Tragic indeed.....

You do not hold marathons -- or even preliminary heats -- when it is 36 degrees Celsius (for those who do not know the conversion formula, that equates to around 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Marathons in the United States cannot be held if the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit! There's a reason for it. As far as I am concerned, Huldai is culpable in the death of the runner who perished, and should be held liable for the distress suffered by so many other runners. Yes, I agree that it is incumbent upon an individual to exercise some common sense and know when it is simply too hot to do serious running, but Huldai should have cancelled the event.

Who told them to run? Why wasn't the race postponed? Stupidity all around.

What's with all the finger pointing and calls for heads to roll? Is this now a nanny state? Everyone knows it gets hot here, everyone knew it would be extra hot today, everyone who ran today CHOSE to run today.. nobody forced them. It is entirely a matter of personal responsibility, not the state or the city or some bloke who works in an office. Also the 36C was the MAX for today which was presumably long after the race ended.. it certainly wasn't 36C at 6am or whenever the race started.

It take months of planning and organisation to hold a marathon you can't just decide to hot today we will do it next week instead also even if they could just say do it next week how do they know it will be any cooler next week? Even the runners themselves, months ago they planned to do this marathon on a certain date but then its put back a week and they have other things planned so cant take part. The people at fault most were the runners not the organisers. First time marathon runners especially can be very enthusiastic and they don't realise its not a race so they see lots of people in front of them and think I am well behind and so they sprint. Result is they use up to much energy to quickly and they can dehydrate before they get to the next water stop. Combine that and the heat and people can collapse. I have done a number of marathons and half marathons and know from experience the way you feel and how it is also different in the way you run when training and there is nobody else there and the marathon itself where you feel you have to compete to avoid making a fool of yourself.

No no it was palestinians to be blamed it was the fact that the hared and the fact they were not in the army.

The decision makers in this country never seize to surprise me. It was so obvious that people would get hurt unnecessary running in this heat and wind full of sand. Me G-d, when will you ever learn.

... needs to resign.

Why don't you shut the eff up and have some respect for the dead...

Sarah B. you are wrong. Runners can opt out of the races when temperatures soar but the races are nit canceled. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Sports/2012/0416/Boston-Marathon-is-a-hot-one-but-is-it-the-hottest-marathon-ever

Some years back, a runner in the New York marathon died from heat stroke, and several thousand people opted not to participate, including some of the people expected to finish in the top twenty-five (both men and women). So it's for reasons of health, but also for economic reasons. No one is going to come out and watch the winner who, with the full complement of runners competing, would have ended up in 6,000th place.

Whilst I am deeply sorry for the dead and incapacitated in this race i'd like to point out something. From the picture in this article, not a single person looks anything like the standard image of a long distance runner. They are fat, unathletic looking, badly overdressed, and with hopeless strides. They are surely just bystanders who joined in for the picture opportunity. At least, I hope so...... I always thought that sports organisations required medical certificates for entrants.

typical IL stuff

Why not have these marathons during the relatively milder part of the Israeli winter?

The Bad Water ultra-marathon. I invite you to search on the web and you will be impressed.

I know nothing about the victims, but lot of people come to that kind of race not enough prepared. There are liars who sell books where it is written that you can run a marathon after a short time of preparation, but trust me, to achieve a marathon well, it demands one full year of training.

Friday it was a exeptional hot day . Today the temperature is much lower .

mid March is the end of the winter in Israel, not even official spring. I assume the organizers picked this time because they thought the weather will be ideal - not rainy as in winter and not hot as in summer or even spring. But there was an unusual and unexpected heat wave in the last few days. They should have canceled the marathon but I don't think there's a problem with the original timing. In winter there is a good chance that the runners will run in the rain - which is also not so nice.

What was the temperature at the start time? When did the hamsin start?

The Boston Marathon in 2012 saw temperatures soar to an unseasonably 88 F degrees. Currently, Boston just received more snow with temps around 34 F. The smart thing would have been to drop out of the race individually, as some did in 2012 in Boston. But knowing the runner's psyche, they are risk takers and love the adrenaline like a drug. It's not the responsibility of the TA mayor to cancel the marathon.