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Photo: Yoed Cohen

Gaza Strip hosts its first marathon

Over 1,000 runners participate in first-of-its-kind 26 miles running event organized by UNRWA . 'It is a day of joy,' says race winner Nader al-Masri

More than 1,000 runners participated Thursday in the Gaza Strip's first official marathon, a landmark recreational event in a territory far more accustomed to war and violence.

 

The tiny Mediterranean territory is some 26 miles, or 42 kilometers, from top to bottom – just the right length for an official marathon.

 

"There is the New York Marathon, the London Marathon, the Tel Aviv Marathon, and now there is also the Gaza Marathon," said Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, the UN body that organized the event.

 

About 50 runners bolted from the starting line at dawn Thursday, setting out on a course that stretched from the northern border town of Beit Hanoun near Israel, cut to the Mediterranean shore and dashed to Gaza's southernmost tip on the Egyptian border.

 

Just nine runners – Palestinian athletes training for next year's Olympics and international aid workers – ran the full course.

 

The others ran shorter distances, with about 150 women walking six miles (10 kilometers) of the route and more than 1,000 schoolchildren in brightly colored T-shirts sprinting in shorter relays of one-half to two-mile (one- to four-kilometer) relays.

 

Armed security men from the governing Hamas militant group watched on from the sidelines.

 

First to cross the finish line was 31-year-old Palestinian Olympic trainee Nader al-Masri, who competed in the 5,000 meter race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is now training for the 2012 Games in London.

 

Al-Masri finished at 2 hours, 47 minutes and 47 seconds – short of his goal of two-and-a-half hours. He was still elated.

 

"This is a very happy day for me because it is the first-ever marathon in Gaza," al-Masri said. "It is a day of joy."

 

UNRWA, which aids Palestinian refugees, organized the event as a fundraiser, raising around $1 million from international donors to fund its summer camps for Gazan children.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.05.11, 20:15
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