attractive tourist destination

Again this year, some love it and some hate it.

The Fifth International Jerusalem Winner Marathon

was run on Friday morning.

While I love some aspects of this event,

at the same time some parts are hard to like.

With over 26,000 runners from 60 countries,

in many various races, many streets were closed to traffic.

This year I tried to take fewer photos,

and ended up with over 300.

Then I hated trying to get down to just a few to share.

You see how long it took to publish this post.

Now I hope you will enjoy a few favorites.

My favorite selfie was of these two men

whose finish time was not as important as their photo.

There were many good causes that raised money,

but Shalva was the first.

Shalva took part in the half-marathons before there was a full marathon.

Walking with children of ALEH were uniformed police.

ALEH was first at the starting line for a special “race.”

Please take a minute to look and appreciate

 the police officer and child on the left.

Amazing.

I am so proud to know the woman whose

  design made it possible for that child to “walk in a marathon”

 more ALEH photos here.

I hate that there were too many great causes

and charities, and I had to cut out many pictures.

Chai Lifeline had a large group with bunches of balloons,

lots of walkers and great spirit.

One Family’s red shirts could also be seen everywhere.

Karen Or was walking again this year.

These girls got my attention,

they seemed to be having a great time,

 I am not sure which group they were with,

but photos of them are going viral.

The crowd in the park was so large

and colorful, but it was hard to get a good photograph.

So many people.

So many came from around the world.

The media was interested in the half-marathon winner.

 But my favorites visiting runners were

this man and his wife from Philadelphia, PA.

They came with 6 family members,

just to run in Jerusalem marathon races,

to raise funds for lone soldiers,

and to celebrate his 80th birthday this week.

Thousands of runners passed the finish line,

and entered the Gan Sacher lined with water bottles.

In the park there were teams of supporters;

AACI,

 the Lone Soldier Center in memory of Michael Levin,

and Yachad were just a few of dozens.

While the marathon winners were popular with the news crews,

there was more going on.

The annual hand bike race, for example,

and exercises and music and of course – food.

Two finish lines were confusing to new comers.

The finish line for only the full marathon was at one end of the park,

 lined with supporters,

here as the third and four place Israeli winners came in.

The men’s full marathon winners had their moment of glory

and got trophies from Mayor Nir Barkat.

The 10K and 5K runners were coming

up the hill to the finish line,

with the Knesset in view in the background

in crowds of thousands.

I did not find all of my family members,

and I did not see friends from near and far who ran

for the first time,

yet this one man I had seen at the start,

there he was again as he came into the home stretch.

“If you can dream it, you can do it”

seemed like a perfect motto to start this day

and this smile a good one to end with.

Photos had to be cut to keep this from becoming another marathon.

If you want to see more of Jerusalem Marathon 2015,

additional pictures are posted on RJS Facebook page.