Jerusalem24 – The Palestine Marathon is an annual road running event, including races over the marathon, half marathons, 21 km, 10 km, and 5 km distances, that takes place on the streets of Bethlehem, Palestine. It was held for the first time on April 21, 2013, and has been held annually since.
The Palestine Marathon returns this year, 2022, after two years of cancellation due to the pandemic, starting at 6:30 am, from the Manager Square in Bethlehem like it has been for the past 9 years since it was not possible to find a 42 km stretch within the Palestinian Territories without passing through Israeli checkpoints, it was decided to hold the event on an 11 km stretch, which full marathon runners would complete 4 times.
Jalal Abu khatter, runner and writer based in Jerusalem, and who will be participating this year too in this Friday’s event, and who ran dozens of marathons all around the world, says “when I choose to run, I choose to visit a place I can connect with, a runner can’t run anywhere if they cannot connect with their own home”.
He adds that Running in Palestine makes him proud because it’s a very huge occasion since it’s organized by youth, and finally being held after two years of cancellation.
https://soundcloud.com/24fmpalestine/vibes-jalal-14-3
