More than 1,400 Palestinians were up before dawn on Thursday to take part in the Gaza Strip's first-ever marathon which runs the entire length of the coastal enclave.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were up before dawn on Thursday to take part in the Gaza Strip's first-ever marathon which runs the entire length of the coastal enclave.
ADVERTISEMENT
As the sun rose, around 50 runners gathered at the start line at the entrance to Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, bouncing nervously as they waited for the starting whistle.
Just nine people signed up to run the full 42-kilometre (26-mile) stretch that ends at the southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border.
Most of the other competitors were school children in brightly-coloured T-shirts, who ran short stretches of the race in a relay format, with more than 1,200 taking part through the morning, each one covering between one and four kilometres.
Half-way through, another six Palestinians began the 13.1 km half marathon and towards the end, 150 runners from the Gaza Athletics Federation joined in for the last eight kilometre (five mile) stretch.
Organised by UNRWA, the runners have collectively raised more than $1 million (672,000 euros) in sponsorship which will go towards the Palestinian refugee agency's Summer Games programme held every year in the Hamas-run territory, spokesman Chris Gunness told AFP.
There were no surprises when it came to the race's winner, 31-year-old Nader al-Masri, a Gazan from Beit Hanun, who entered the 5,000 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and who is hoping to enter the 2012 Games in London.
"This is a very happy day for me because it is the first-ever marathon in Gaza," Masri told AFP before the race.
Masri had hoped to complete the course in two hours 30 minutes, and came in just a little over his target, at two hours, 42 minutes and 47 seconds, he said.
There were just two international participants -- Frenchman Sebastien Trives, who is deputy director of UNRWA's Gaza operations, and and his colleague Gemma Connell, an Australian who organised the event.
Both are first-time marathon runners.
"This is a very important day for Gaza. It's a message for freedom," Trives told AFP.
"The marathon is the maximum length you can run in Gaza but they hope one day to be able to run further," he said of the territory which is exactly 42 kilometres in length and has been under an Israeli blockade since 2006.
"I'm incredibly excited and buoyed by the enthusiasm of all the Palestinians who have been involved," said Connell, 28. "It is very exciting to be here for it. I just hope I can make it to the end."
The Hamas-run security forces provided security for the entire event, which is taking place just three weeks after the kidnap and murder of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni by radical Islamist militants.
"We've been working with the local authorities to make sure the route is secure," Gunness said. "They are providing full security all along the route."
In addition to security concerns, organisers had to consider the sensitivities of male and female athletes running side-by-side.
Last year, masked gunmen set fire to two UN summer camps, apparently angered over the fact that girls and boys were mingling freely.
u00a0
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
