A local Palestinian athlete on Thursday won the Gaza Strip’s first-ever marathon, which ran the entire length of the tiny coastal enclave.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were up before dawn to take part in the race, which kicked off at sunrise in the northern town of Beit Hanun and ended in the southern coastal city of Rafah.
Just seven Gazans and two foreigners signed for the full 42-kilometre (26-mile) jaunt, although they were joined by more than 1,200 schoolchildren, who ran short stretches in a relay format, each running between one and four kilometres. As the sun rose, the nine runners along with around 50 teenage boys wearing purple T-shirts and baseball caps of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA gathered at the start line, bouncing nervously until the whistle blew and they sped off.
Under a blazing sun, they pounded along the largely-flat route running down the Mediterranean coast, passing battered towns and ramshackle villages and the shells of buildings hit in Israeli air strikes on the Hamas-run territory. It was a Palestinian event par excellence — none of the runners had numbers and the road was not cordoned off, with passing donkey carts and taxi drivers peering curiously at the rare sight of people running for recreation. Many of the children were dressed in jeans and some were even running barefoot, seemingly oblivious to the hot surface of the crudely-tarmacked road underfoot.
“The people find it strange — if they see someone running, they think they are crazy,” remarked one of the spectators. “Usually Palestinians only run when there are air strikes or when they are frightened.” Half-way through, another six runners began the 21-kilometre (13-mile) half marathon and eight kilometres before the end, they were joined by 150 runners from the Gaza Athletics Federation and this AFP journalist. Organised by UNRWA, the event has raised more than $1 million (672,000 euros) in sponsorship, which will go towards its Summer Games programme, the agency’s spokesman Chris Gunness told AFP.
