Jericho man wins Bethlehem marathon

[oberliner]

BETHLEHEM (AFP) -- Hundreds of athletes on Sunday braved freezing rain to take part in Bethlehem's first-ever marathon which was won by a Palestinian runner from the West Bank town of Jericho.

Some 500 runners, half Palestinians and half foreigners, took part in the different legs of the race, organizers said, which began at 8:00 a.m. as the West Bank town was buffeted by cold winds and an unseasonable downpour.

The full marathon was won by Abdel Nasser Awajme, a Palestinian from Jericho, a correspondent at the scene said. His racing time was to be officially announced at a news conference during the afternoon.

Around 100 competitors took part in the full 26 miles, while another 150 joined the half marathon, organizers said. Some 250 joined either the six-mile or three-mile races.

Another 26 runners from Gaza were denied permission by Israel to travel to Bethlehem to join the race.

Sunday's race, which is called the "Right to Movement Palestine Marathon" and is the brainchild of two Danish women athletes, takes runners on a tour of the hilly southern West Bank city which Christians believe is the birthplace of Jesus.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=587879

[delrem]

1. Good to see that the event went well.

[oberliner]

2. Yes, thankfully Hamas didn't have the authority to cancel this one

Men and women running together is only allowed for Palestinians not directly under Hamas rule.

[azurnoir]

3. true that but Israel did have the authority to prevent a woman from Gaza from participating

and I also noted your bolding in your OP exactly what is your point?

[shaayecanaan]

5. They were probably filthy nordic leftist Scandinavians...

Damn them and their meddling carpetbagger ways. Its about time someone went freedom rider on their asses.

[azurnoir]

6. lol

I didn't even have to look to know that was you - good one though I'm sure they were at that

[shaayecanaan]

9. Its a good job that a Palestinian guy won...

otherwise someone would have posted that a white European won the race. Perhaps even a Scandinavian white European.

In other news this week, the London marathon was won by Tsegaye Kebede, who is not a white European; instead he is a Black African. He was congratulated on his finish by Prince Harry, who is a white European.

About 35,000 people took part in the race, many of them white Europeans.

[delrem]

4. Too true. And it'd have been nice if Israel had allowed Gazan runners to participate.

It'd have been a small but promising token.
Peaceful change, if it happens, is slow -- and for it to happen all sides have to take the rhetorical and symbolic heat off, allow the peace movement, which does exist, room to breathe and be heard.
We can hope, can't we?

[oberliner]

7. In photos: Runners brave rain at Bethlehem marathon

Competitors run the first-ever marathon in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on April 21, 2013. Some 500 runners, half Palestinians and half foreigners, took part in the different legs of the race, organizers said, which started at the Nativity Church and ran through refugee camps.

The winner was Abdel Nasser Awajneh from Jericho who came in first with a time of 3 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds. In second place was Bethlehem resident Motaz Masalmeh in 3:23:21 followed by Yahya al-Jamal in 3:26:00.

"It was a success. I'm really happy," said Laerke Hein, one of the Danish organizers, saying it had taken 18 months to arrange.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=587954

[aranthus]

8. Congratulations to the runners

Wind and rain is the worst set of conditions for a race. So the more than three hour fastest time isn't surprising. Also, the three and six mile races are 5 and 10 K's for the rest of us.