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Running the marathon – Israeli style

My wife Jody and I ran the 10K in the Jerusalem Half Marathon today. I’ve been running 3-4 times a week for over a decade already, but never in a competitive race. We didn’t come in first, but we were satisfied with a respectable time of just over an hour.

We arrived at the athletic stadium at Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus at 9:00 AM, picked up our number plates (see my picture), our plastic shoe dongles (to electronically read our finishing time) and a couple of free granola bars, before sitting back to survey the scene.

There must have been close to 3,000 participants for both the 10K and the full half marathon (26 kilometers). Some were practicing loops around the track, others milling around in their spandex shorts and tops. There was a preponderance of good looks and buffed bodies.

I imagine this must be what the pre-race environment looks like at any competition around the world. But there were a few uniquely Israeli elements, too.

The first was a group of runners for charity, raising money for Shalva, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel. The fundraisers, decked out in white t-shirts with the Shalva insignia, were surrounded by kids from the program, some of whom played percussion in a small band crooning Israeli pop songs.

Music was another reminder of where we were. It seems that every event or ceremony in Israel is infused by Shlomo Artzi classics. At our son’s swearing in ceremony for the army last year, it was “Uf Gozal” – “Fly Little One” (see my post here). Today, “Kmo Az (“Like Then” – lyrics here).

Then there were the soldiers: hundreds of them, many decked out in full uniform which they peeled off prior to running, laying their rifles carefully next to their kitbags on the bleachers.

At just before 10:00 AM, we lined up at the starting line, adrenaline pumping. I had been warned not to run too fast at the start, despite the excitement of the crowd. Jody and I were about two-thirds of the way back and, when the countdown reached one, we were quickly overtaken by speedier competitors from behind.

I kept to the recommendation though, gliding down the hill towards Nayot without overexerting myself. As the route neared the Gan Sacher park, I heard a loud whooping noise coming from behind me. A sea of red was approaching.

It was a group of hundreds of army parachuters running, playing, kibitzing. They had bottles of water, which they rained on their compatriots. I had no choice but to stand aside and let them pass. As they did, I saw the words on the backs of their t’s – “Achrei” – “Follow Me.”

At about the halfway mark I decided this slow and steady approach was not serving me well. Jody was already way ahead. We were headed up a hill from the park to the Israel Museum. I do particularly well on hills. I ratcheted up my speed and started passing runners who were temporarily walking as they trudged along. It felt good.

Before long, I could see Jody up ahead. I ran faster, reaching her, giving her a grin before sprinting forward. But my energy wasn’t endless, and we eventually ran side-by-side, actually holding hands as we crossed the finish line some 20 minutes later.

Sweat dripping on this warm spring morning, we felt a profound sense of accomplishment as we picked up our complementary popsicles and commemorative medals. Nearby, the parachutists were on the ground, doing push ups, still whooping and having a grand time.

For me, the marathon has a special significance. A year ago, I was in California for my father’s funeral while the race was taking place back home. He had died very quickly after being diagnosed with lymphoma less than three weeks earlier. I had still been training for the race only days before I hopped on the plane.

My father had polio as a child and was confined to a wheelchair in his later years. As I ran the 10K, I imagined he would have been proud of me for taking on such a challenge. It was nevertheless a bittersweet triumph, a sad reminder of a painful milestone.

Will we be back at the Jerusalem marathon next year? We certainly hope so. Or maybe even before that. The Tel Aviv Marathon is coming up May 14. See you there?

Foto Friday – Biking to the Extreme

Israel is a natural location for extreme sports. Some would even venture that just living in Israel is an extreme sport, given our highway conditions and of course that pesky security situation.

Even the Israel Postal Company has gotten into the act, with a series of stamps celebrating windsurfing, and — of course — the ever-popular all-terrain biking.

Yes, there are bikers all over Israel’s terrain, particularly on the weekends. when they come out in droves. It makes sense. The sport combines the positive effects of outdoor exercise with the even more popular crazy Israeli driver syndrome. There are extreme bikers in the Jerusalem Hills…

In Tel Aviv…

Very extreme biking in Haifa…

The popularity of ultra-sports is constantly growing (for proof, check out ISRAEL21c’s video about Parkour in Tel Aviv) and there are events scheduled for every weekend in the coming months. Shvoong is central repository for all sports-related information but unfortunately, the site is only in Hebrew, as is ProSport, which runs some of the country’s most fun and creative events. For English, try the Israel Cycling Federation, Cyclenix – MTB Israel, Ayalot, the Israeli Club for Runners and Triathletes or Sarma, the Israel Extreme Sports and Rescue Association.

And consider signing up for a charity hike or bike trip: Tsad Kadima’s Hike for Hope, Hazon’s Jerusalem To Eilat Ride 2010; ALYN Hospital’s 11th International Charity Bike Ride. All worthy causes and good fun.

A moral dilemma on King David Street

I’m not sure if I was taken in by a 3-Card-Monty sidewalk scam or callous in not fully helping someone in need.

I left Jerusalem’s King David Hotel on Friday with my tennis partner Calev after our weekly doubles game (Why we get to play at the venerable hotel’s outside court situated in it’s beautiful poolside courtyard is another story worth telling some day).

As we were walking to Calev’s car, a neatly dressed woman holding two young girls – aged maybe six and four, dressed in their Friday finest approached us.

“Excuse me,” she said in an accented English that revealed her Arab origins. She was tall and thin, and wearing a fashionable black pant suit.

“I’m from Haifa, and I had to come to Jerusalem to take one of my girls to the hospital for an appointment. But I lost my pocket book, and now we have no way of getting back to Haifa. Do you have any money you can give so we can go home?”

What would you do?

Calev, who grew up in New York, immediately scoped out the situation as a classic tourist scam, aimed at bilking the high-scale King David clientele out of their money.

I looked at the little girls, and took NIS 20 out of my pocket and handed it to the woman.

“This will get you to the Central Bus Station,” I said. “You can ask Egged (the bus company) to help you get home.”

The woman wasn’t happy with that offering.

“But I need NIS 150 to get home,” she insisted.

Claiming that the money I gave her was all I had, we continued walking to the car. Calev said, “I’m sure she’s from east Jerusalem and does this every week.”

As we drove onto King David Street, he suggested we look for the woman and offer her a ride to Haifa. If she declined, then we’d know that I had been taken. If she accepted, then it was going to be a long afternoon driving two hours each way to Haifa.

Alas, we couldn’t find them on the street anymore, and we were left to speculate. Ultimately, I didn’t feel bad at my NIS 20 contribution to the woman. Even if she was a clever scam artist, the money would hopefully go to feeding her children. But we may never find out who she was… unless she’s there again next Friday when we finish our tennis game.

An Israeli all-star

When Omri Casspi became the first Israeli to land a spot on an NBA roster this year – with the Sacramento Kings – that was an achievement in itself. Nobody seriously anticipated that Yavne native would have much of an impact on the team in his first year, let alone make a major impression on the league with his play.

Well halfway through the season, Casspi has done such a tremendous job with the Kings, that he was invited to the All-Star Weekend in Dallas for the Rookie Challenge, in which the leagues top rookies take on the best second-year players.

And thanks, in part to Casspi’s 13 points and five rebounds, the rookies outdueled the sophomores for a 140-128 victory, just another feather in Casspi’s already feather-filled cap of a season.

Only a week ago, Casspi made his New York debut at Madison Square Garden, where the former Maccabi Tel Aviv star was greeted with rock star veracity on Jewish Heritage Night by fans waving Israeli flags and shouting his name whenever he scored. The organist playing a ‘Hava Nagilla’ riff also contributed to the festive atmosphere.

It was in Dallas, however, where Casspi received some of his most meaningful praise – from NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, who have taken note of the 21-year-old’s stellar play for the mediocre Kings.

“I think he’s playing very well for the Kings,” said Bryant. “I think he’s doing phenomenally well.”

“It’s amazing, the steps he has made in a couple of months,” added the Dallas Mavericks forward Nowitzki. “He’s confident, he looks like he belongs out there and he wants to compete. He’s got a decent looking shot and he moves well off the ball. I really like his game. As long as he keeps on working and improving the sky is the limit.”

League MVP James told AP that he had known of Casspi’s potential before the season even began. “I saw him when he came to work out with us in the summer. He’s a very talented guy. Very athletic. He’s done some great things.”

For Casspi himself, playing in the game was the highlight of his rookie season so far.

“It’s bigger than what I thought, just being around all those players and being at All-Star Weekend,” Casspi told The Jerusalem Post. “You come here, and you want to come here again. I’m very proud. Please God I’ll come back next year.

“I’m living my dream. There’s no time to get tired of it. When I get tired of it, I just keep thinking to myself, ‘This is where I wanted to be all the time.’”

And for Jewish and Israeli fans of Casspi’s, it’s hard to imagine heart cavities having any more space available to fill with pride, but he keeps on managing to make us prouder with each week of the season that goes on.

Israel chooses team for Winter Olympics

Winter sports and Israel aren’t often thought of in the same sentence. But this week’s heavy precipitation has seen over a foot of snow fall on Mount Hermon in the Golan, and the skiing season has officially begun.

And in a case of good timing, the Olympic Committee of Israel announced this week it would be sending a three-member delegation to the Winte Olympics next month in Vancouver – Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky, a brother-and-sister skating duo, and skier Mikail Renzhin.

Renzhin will compete in the slalom and giant slalom events. The Zaretskys finished seventh in the 2010 European Championships, and are scheduled to skate to “Hava Nagila” and the theme music from the film Schindler’s List. For all three, it will be their second Olympic appearance.

Roman began skating as a 4-year-old in Belarus, while his younger sister started after the family’s aliya to Israel at the Canada Center in Metula. “He decided that he didn’t want to skate alone, so my parents looked for a partner for him,” Alexandra, now 22, told Ha’aretz. “I was supposed to be a stand-in until a suitable partner could be found.”

Their mother, Elena, sent them to Delaware to study with top professionals after they began outskating their teachers in Israel.

“We had the potential and had to make the move,” explains Roman. “Either we went to the United States to get better, or we stayed in Metula where the conditions are not suitable for breeding champions. Our mother couldn’t go with us for financial reasons.”

They both say they miss Israel and feel foreign in New Jersey, where they now live. Their apartment is always stocked with pickled cucumbers, Turkish coffee and other Israeli-made foodstuffs. “We grew up in Metula with the beautiful view of the Golan, then suddenly found ourselves here, where the people aren’t always so nice. It doesn’t feel like home. There’s nothing like Israel.”

Maybe they’ll be the ones to bring home Israel’s first medal in a winter Olympics.

The marathon man

Among the hundreds of runners in last week’s Tiberias Marathon, was a 32-year-old visitor from Australia – Tristan Miller.

Miller was on the second week of his year-long quest to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks. Yes, crazy idea, but if anyone can do it, it might be Miller.

Catching up with him a couple days before the marathon at the Jaffa Youth Hostel where he was staying, Miller was getting used to the summer temperatures close to 27 centigrade, after flying in from Zurich where he ran his first marathon in nearly 0 degree temperature.

“So, far I love Israel. It’s so lively here in Tel Aviv, and the people have been so friendly and interested in what I’m doing,” he said.

Miller, who sold his home to finance his journey, which he’s making with his longtime friend Darren, hopes to raise money for UNICEF from people who contribute funds to his Web site - and he’s hoping for a few adventures on the way.

Talking to him a couple days after the marathon – which he finished in a respectable 3:52, Miller said that he suffered in the heat, but that the views on the route, which focused on the Kinneret were breathtaking – not a great thing when you’re running a marathon.

“It was much more beatiful than I expected,” he said. “I was running for a while next to a guy called Avraham, and he was giving me the history of the area and what happened with the Golan Heights and Syria – what it was like in the area in the past and how it changed. It was really interesting. That’s why I’m here, to hear stories, and learn from everyone whatever they have to offer.”

Miller was headed to Jerusalem for some sightseeing after enjoying a beer-drinking night out on his last night in Tel Aviv, and before heading to his next marathon stop in Mumbai.

Krav Maga, for everyone

You’ve heard of it, maybe you’ve even tried it, especially if you’re a gnarly Hollywood type who’s gotta get into shape for your next flick. It, is Krav Maga, the Israeli-created self-defense training program honed in the IDF for battling the bad guys.

And yes, it’s been used by J. Lo for workouts, in action flicks such as The Bourne Ultimatum, and in video games GTA and Splinter Cell. “How I Met Your Mother” actor Joe Manganiello claims it helped get him a part in the recently cast “True Blood,” and Bionic Woman’s Michelle Ryan also used it to get in shape. And of course our very own Bar Refaeli uses it to keep her curves svelte.

But now anyone can try it online, and for much less than the cost of a single lesson with a personal trainer. Lee Rivnay and Amir Student, two Israelis who were looking for a good idea, launched KravMagaBootCamp.Com two years ago. They keep their site fresh with constant updates to the materials and methods of Krav Maga and offer instant access to Ran Nakash, who headed up the Krav Maga training division of the IDF.

What’s impressive about Rivnay and Student is not their Krav Maga skills; I’m not sure they have any. What they do have is ideas, as they’ve been clearly looking around for start-up possibilities, having first launched Girls Teach Guys, a website community that “facilitates communication and knowledge transfer between men and women. Trust me, it’s a lot raunchier than Krav Maga. But hey, it’s all about Israeli ingenuity. And Krav Maga is certainly one of those Israeli inventions that has found a global market.

The ‘golf’ of Eilat

How do you say ‘bogie’ in Hebrew?

Israelis have not developed an affinity over the years for golf. Sure, we have a high-class golf course in Casearea that costs a fortune to play on, but there’s only a certain segment of the population that can afford the accoutrements and who look good in plaid.

However, realizing from the current Tiger Woods scandal exactly how popular golf – or adultery – is in other parts of the world, the Tourism Ministry and the Israel Land Administration have announced a long-range plan to invest $200 million over the next 15 years to build 15 golf courses around the country.

The idea is to promote Israel as a golf swinger’s paradise – nine months of outdoor sunny weather with no chance of a rainout. According to Tourism Ministry assessments, Investing the golf courses may result in a 20% increase in hotel occupancy and the average amount of money spent by tourists visiting Israel may double form $1,000 to $2,000.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov predicted in Ynet that thousands of golf aficionados will visit Israel every year, adding that golf tourism would, in turn, encourage local and foreign investments.

The initial locations being discussed for the blue and white golf courses include Eilat and the Dead Sea in the south, Tiberias and Hatzor Haglilit in the north and Savyon and Rishon Lezion in the center.

While the idea may have some merit, the building of the golf courses will likely neccessitate destroying lots of natural acreage, which hasn’t already been destroyed by building or road contractors. Is that the best way we have to utilize what’s left of our open spaces?

Secondly, have any of these people behind the idea try to walk 18 holes at the Dead Sea or Eilat in August lately? The plan will also be contributing to medical tourism, as we’ll be having lots of emergency room heat stroke cases.

But who knows? Maybe in 20 years, we’ll all be dressing unfashionably, shouting ‘fore’ and dating cocktail waitresses. Can’t wait.

The list for the army

When did going into the army get so expensive?

We’re into the final countdown until Sarit’s induction date into the IDF. Besides the physical regimen of playing volleyball and jogging that will insure good conditioning to survive her basic training, there are some other factors that will insure a smooth transition from civilian to military life for three years – clothes.

I don’t know – on my first day of the army, I was given a kitbag that included everything I would ever need for the forseeable future – socks, undershirts (goofiyot), some uniforms, boots and a jacket. What else do you need?

Apparently, quite alot. One of Sarit’s friends is an organized type, and she passed around a lengthy list of items every soldier of the female variety should bring with them to the army, and to make things even more efficient, the stores where they could be purchased. Giving the list a quick perusal, I saw some of those same items that the IDF provides, like t-shirts and socks.

“Yeah, but the ones in the stores are sturdier and not as flimsy,” Sarit explained. So one afternoon, she and my wife went on a scavenger hunt, and returned later in the afternoon with NIS 1,000 worth of items that will make her best-dressed soldier in the IDF. Of course, part of the expense was from buying neccessities like a flashlight and a reliable watch, but there was plenty of clothes in there too.

No matter. In a few days time, Sarit will be running around in the dust, taking orders, feeling disoriented and coming to terms with learning all she can about defending Israel. Whatever we can do to help her overcome the obstacles and thrive in a difficult and unkown environment is our pleasure. Sometimes a warm undershirt and heavy socks go an awful long way.

Austrians forget how Hatikva goes

People wonder why Israel is always on the defensive, when things like this explain it perfectly.
At an international fencing competition over the weekend in Austria, two Israeli teens – Dana Stralinkov, 14, and Alona Komarov, 13 – won the gold and bronze medals respectively.

However, at the ceremonies awarding them the medals, instead of playing the national anthem – Hatikva – as is the custom with every other winning athlete, there was only silence.

After standing in shocked silence for a few seconds, the two teens along with the entire Israeli delegation of 22 people, burst in to song and sung Hatikva, the teenagers’ coach Yaakov Friedman told Yediot Aharonot.

“It was a very moving moment,” Freidman said, adding that a similar incident occurred five months ago at a competition in Sweden. According to the report, the Austrian official in charge of playing the national anthems of countries of the winning participants, explained he was unable to find a recording of the Israeli anthem.

Yeah, sure. And we believe that Nidal Malik Hasan wasn’t an Islamic jihadist, but suffering from PTSD. These occurences, which someone with paranoid tendencies might attribute to European snobbish digs at Israel’s legitimacy, is becoming a bit tiresome.

Yossi Harari, chairman of the Israel Fencing Association told Yediot that he intended to submit a complaint to the European Union. Harari also advised supplying every Israeli delegation participating in competitions abroad, with a recorded disc of Israel’s national anthem.

If the Hatikva snub had happened to Yuri Foreman, he might have come out swinging. Foreman, an aspiring rabbi who mixes religious studies with work in the gym, made history in Las Vegas on Saturday night when he became the first Israeli boxer to win a major world title, outpointed Daniel Santos over 12 rounds to claim the WBA super welterweight crown.

The 29-year-old, who was born in Belarus but lived in Haifa from the ages of 10 to 19. Foreman, who remained unbeaten in 28 fights, emigrated from Israel to Brooklyn and began studying to become a rabbi three years ago.

Maybe we should send Foreman to Austria next to teach them Hatikva.

 

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