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| Amanda B |
Like many of my marathons, the Jerusalem Marathon was planned at short notice only 3 weeks out
from the event after a friend sent me a message saying: “Do the Jerusalem Marathon with me!” This
was the same friend who had also talked me into flying to California from my home on the Gold Coast
in Australia with only two days notice of the Huntington Beach Surf City Marathon less than 6 weeks
before. She knows how weak I am at passing up the opportunity, when asked, to run a marathon in a
new city somewhere around the world.
After messaging her back with the usual initial response of: “No, I can’t afford it and I don’t know if I’ll
be working that week,” I soon received a reply saying she had booked a hotel room for both of us so
the accommodation was sorted and I didn’t have to worry about that. Damn, she knows how to tempt
me into submission lol! It only took me a couple of hours to show signs of caving and start Googling
for airfares. I had soon convinced myself I needed to do just this one more marathon…and booked the
flights.
My friend Gloria had started doing some research and found that many travel blogs mentioned about
avoiding getting your passport stamped in Israel because it can be a problem if you go into Arab
countries. As I was transiting through Dubai both ways I was hoping this wasn’t going to be an issue.
Further blog research revealed that Israeli immigration no longer stamps people’s passports and
instead issues you with a ticket and places a removable barcode sticker on the back of your passport
so there is no record of your entry into Israel in your passport. That was a relief. A visa wasn’t
required to enter the country so I didn’t have to worry about that either.
A couple of days out from travelling I went to the website of the Australian Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to register my travel plans and also check out what warnings they were
issuing for people travelling to Israel. The warnings weren’t very sobering but I figured terrorists can
strike anywhere these days so I wasn’t going to let that spoil my marathon plans.
As the departure day drew closer I was beginning to dread the long trip of an expected 36 hours each
way with only three nights and two days spent in Jerusalem. As I never know when I’m going to be
needed at work I always book the minimum stay when I travel. Needless to say I was very glad to
finally get to the hotel in Jerusalem at 2am on Thursday morning, the day before the marathon. Gloria
had already arrived in the early afternoon the day before so had picked up our race bibs at the Expo so
that freed up our time to spend all day Thursday doing some sightseeing around the Holy City.
We were staying at the Crowne Plaza Jerusalem Hotel, which was a very convenient short walk of
about 1.6 km (1 mile) to the start line and an even shorter walk from the finish line. Avoiding race day
logistics of how to get to and from the start and finish lines in a city you’re unfamiliar with is always a
huge bonus.
After getting to bed around 2:30am I fell straight to sleep with earplugs and an eye mask in place to
make sure I slept well. At 8:30am I was woken by the phone ringing with Gloria urging me to get down
to the dining room so I didn’t miss out on breakfast. While I’d been sleeping she had organized with
the help of the hotel concierge, Benny, for a local taxi driver to give us a tour of Jerusalem and
Bethlehem. Benny proved to be a wonderful help during our short visit in organizing all our travel
needs.
Our guide picked us up at the pre-arranged time of 11:30am and drove us around the city of
Jerusalem, showing us as much as he could in the short amount of time we had. We had requested to
go to Bethlehem and as this is situated in Palestine it was necessary to change drivers before passing
from the Jewish state of Israel to the Arab state of Palestine. Although the neighboring citizens seem to
live in harmony with each other there is the problem that the Israelis are not covered by insurance
while they’re in Palestine so the taxi drivers are reluctant to drive over the boarder. This is why we
had to change drivers and cars.
Once we were in Bethlehem with the Palestinian guide, we were met by a third guide who would show
us through the Church of Nativity which lays on the site where baby Jesus was supposedly born. It was
starting to feel like a covert mission with all the car changes and different tour guides synchronizing
their appearance at designated meeting points as we arrived. This third guide appeared out of a
souvenir shop across the road from where we were parked and dressed in a very smart suit and his
eyes concealed behind mirrored Ray Ban sunglasses perched on his bald head he looked extremely
out of place amongst the predominantly Muslim village folk. With all the heavily armed military
personnel at checkpoint locations throughout our afternoon drive, and now being met by this bald
well-suited man, I was starting to feel like we were extras in a Jason Bourne movie!
Our tour guide, Adel, explained how the basilica was originally commissioned in 327 by Constantine
the Great and his mother Helena, over the site that’s still traditionally considered to be located over
the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The original basilica was competed in 339 and
destroyed by fire during the Samaritan Revolts of the 6th century. A new basilica was built in 565 by
Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, with the original architectural tone of the original church restored.
Numerous additions have been constructed since then with the site holding prominent religious
significance to both Christian and Muslim faiths. We visited the underground cave located beneath the
basilica, which enshrines the site where Jesus is said to have been born. Next to this “Grotto of the
Nativity” is the “Grotto of the Manger” which marks the site where Mary supposedly laid the newborn
baby Jesus in the manger.
With the church visit completed we walked back down the basilica steps to the road where our tour
guide #2 was waiting and we all jumped in his vehicle and drove around to the souvenir shop where
we had picked up Adel. After having a wander through the shop it was time for tour guide #2 to take
us back into the Jewish side of Jerusalem. As we drove around the hilly streets of Bethlehem I noticed
a very high limestone wall with rolls of barbed wire on top of it and asked the tour guide if that was a
prison. He replied “That’s the wall.” Oh, “The Wall,” how could I have forgotten The Wall! I felt like an
idiot as I ignorantly ask about the wall that literally imprisons the people of Palestine from the rest of
the world. The wall is known as the Israeli West Bank barrier (amongst other names) and once
completed it will be about 700 kilometres (430 miles) long. It was built by the Israeli government in
the West Bank and acts as a separation barrier that separates about 9.4% of the West Bank and
prevents 23,000 Palestinians from accessing the bulk of that territory. Even after visiting the country I
still have problems understanding the politics of the troubled states and was surprised to see
everyone living harmoniously, despite the abundance of heavily armed soldiers everywhere. It
seemed like a ticking time bomb, never really knowing when it was going to go off.
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Source:
http://www.redstate.com/uploads/2015/10/
Dome_of_the_Rock_and_Wailing_wall_by_Peter_Mulligan.jpg |
We had an early night so we could make an early start the next day. Friday and Saturday are the
weekend in Middle Eastern countries, which is why the marathon was held on a Friday, with Friday
being their equivalent of our Sunday.
The marathon was to start at 7am with the half marathon starting at 6:30am in the grounds of the
Sacher Gardens. The hotel accommodated the many guests who were staying there for the events with
an early opening of the dining room for breakfast at 4:30am. By 6am we were dressed and fed and
ready to leave for the start line. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll to the southern end of Sacher Garden in
the brisk morning air, chatting to other race participants along the way. The weather forecast for the
day was a range of 7 - 16°C (45 - 61°F) but despite being fairly cool it was to be fine and sunny. I was
rugged up for a cold start but fortunately it wasn’t too chilly while standing around waiting for the
race to start.
While lining up to use the port-a-loo it was difficult to ignore the security presence in the area.
Unfortunately, since the Boston bombings in 2013 these heightened security measures are becoming
increasingly more commonplace in many big city marathons, although there was definitely a larger
amount of heavily armed police and military personnel at this marathon than what I’d seen at any
other I’ve done.
With the marathon start time getting closer we herded into the start line corral with the rest of the
marathoners and half marathoners. The half marathon seemed to be starting late so we had to wait off
to the side until they all got started and left the marathoners to start our race. There were a total of
1,264 participants for the 42.2 km marathon and 4,076 participants in the 21.1 km half marathon.
Later in the morning there would also be 7,364 people run a 10 km event and 2,629 people participate
in the 5 km event. With a total of over 15,000 runners between all four events there was no shortage
of atmosphere at the start line.
The weather started to give us a scare as low cloud cover began drizzling light rain down on us but
fortunately it was only short-lived and the clouds dissipated and the threat of a wet start to the race
eased. It was still cold enough as the starters siren sounded for me to keep my wooly jumper and scarf
on for a while but after 10 minutes I’d warmed up enough to be able to shed the layers of disposable
clothing. When I’m expecting a cold start to a race I always buy some cheap layers at a thrift store that
I can discard once I start running. At most big city marathons now they have people collect any
discarded clothing at the start of the course and distribute them to needy people in their community.
With the expected daily high temperature not being too high for my liking I chose to wear a long
sleeved running shirt under my race singlet and I also still had a pair of gloves on my hands, which
stayed there for another 15 minutes. I was glad I wore long sleeves as the sun kept hiding behind the
clouds for a lot of the morning and while we were on top of the hills it was quite windy and chilly. I spent the whole race adjusting my
sleeves up and down as I ran from
sun into shade.
The course was very hilly and for
the first half of it we wound our
way up Mt Scopus, which was the
highest point on the course. The
views were amazing looking back
through the valley as the marathon
course meandered it’s way around
the high ground of the mountain
that stood guard above the Holy
City.
The limestone buildings of Jerusalem stretched out for miles beneath us with barely a change in color
between the buildings and the barren limestone outcropping on the surrounding hills. The landscape
was void of any trees for as far as the eye could see, except for the few in the landscaped grounds of
the university that sat atop the mountain. The only rare trees that could be seen in some areas on the
hilly slopes of the city were olive trees, some of them straight out of the history books. Olive trees in
Jerusalem’s Garden of Gethsemane, revered by Christians as the place where Jesus Christ prayed
before he was crucified, have been dated to at least 900 years old. These olive trees are among the
oldest broad-leaved trees in the world.
As we wound our way
around the ancient streets
of Jerusalem it was
impossible not to notice the
strong security presence,
with groups of soldiers and
police positioned along the
course with machine guns
slung over their shoulders
as they watched the passing
parade of runners. Their
presence seemed more of a
supportive role than a
menacing one and they
cheered the runners as we
ran past, certainly not concerned about us taking photos of them.
In the second half of the race we wound
around the ancient walled confines of the
Old City of Jerusalem. The Old City is a 0.9
square kilometres (0.35 sq mi) walled area
within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until
1860 this area constituted the entire city of
Jerusalem and is home to several sites of
key religious importance for Muslims, Jews
and Christians. We only skirted around the
outer perimeter walls as it seems strangers
are not
advised, or
welcomed, within its inner sanctum.
The last few kilometres of the course were very steep hills and it was
a great relief to come out of a tunnel and emerge on the carpeted path
to the finish line. It had taken me 4 hours and 37 minutes to get there
but I had a memorable tour of the city of Jerusalem over that time. The
course had been well stocked with water bottles, energy gels and
energy drinks, as well as the occasional aid station with orange and
banana pieces and also yummy fresh dates.
There were thousands of people congregated in Sacher Garden at the
finish line and the mood was very festive. I kept my legs moving by
walking the short distance back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice long
hot recovery shower once I got there.
Gloria and I both flew out of Tel Aviv the next morning, heading to Istanbul, although on different
flights. I was only transiting through the airport on the way to Dubai but Gloria decided to spend a
couple of days in Istanbul but was shocked to hear there had been a suicide bomber in the city soon
after she arrived and everyone was advised to remain indoors. Fortunately the remainder of my trip
home was incident free but hearing of the bombing in Istanbul reminded me again of not taking my
safety for granted. In a way though I think it has probably added to the excitement of running my way
around the world and exploring places that I might not otherwise have visited.
The Jerusalem marathon was very well organized and the route was amazing. I highly recommend it
to anyone interested in visiting the Holy City and getting a lot of sightseeing done on foot while you’re
there!
-Amanda B
Blogmaster's Note: Amanda Barlow lives in Australia is an accomplished runner and adventurer, besides being a member of the NY Flyers. To order her book about her exploits running an ultramarathon in the Amazon jungle, please click
HERE.
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