The Jerusalem Marathon is an international running competition held annually in Jerusalem during the month of March. Half-marathon races had been held in the city prior to the first official Jerusalem Marathon in 2011, but it was not until Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat pushed for a race conforming to international standards that the municipality made the full marathon an official annual event in the city. The first full 42-kilometer (26.2-mile) race took place in March 2011 and drew 10,000 participants from forty countries. That year, the three leading runners in the men's race veered off course and arrived at the wrong finish line. The 2012 event, which drew 15,000 runners including 1,500 from fifty countries outside Israel, was marked by rain, strong winds and pounding hail. 20,000 runners from fifty-four countries participated in the third Jerusalem Marathon in 2013.
The starting point of the marathon is Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in the western part of the city. Runners thence loop around the Giv'at Ram campus of the Hebrew University, pass alongside the Valley of the Cross, and cross through various neighborhoods on their way up to Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus in eastern Jerusalem. The route then descends to the Old City, taking runners through Jaffa Gate and the Armenian Quarter and out Zion Gate, on their way to the Jerusalem Forest. The race's finishing point is Sacher Park. Jerusalem's hilly terrain makes the marathon especially challenging. The religious and ethnic diversity of the Jerusalem Marathon led one Haaretz reporter to describe the race as "the most cosmopolitan event around." Races at shorter distances and a fun run are held in conjunction with the marathon.
You can download here the routes (GPX):
- Full Marathon - 42.195 km
- Half Marathon - 21.1 km
- 10 km Race
