Every year in the month of November, during the last 20 years, tens of thousands of residents from Haifa and outside it, ran in the Haifa race. In the beginning the run was on the ridge, starting at Gan Ham in the center of Carmel, to Horeb or to Beit Biram, and back.
In recent years the race has moved to the beach. Along with the adults who were running, there were also the students of the city's schools arriving on buses and joining the run, sometimes with their teachers by their side, sometimes with their parents. It was always a big happening, in which almost the whole city took part.
Haifa's stair race
Sometime during the months of April - May, the Stair Race was held in Haifa, year after year. The stair race would start on HaNamal Street in the lower city and end at Ham Garden in the center of Carmel, after 1000 steps, or 1500 steps - if you choose to also climb the Dan Panorama stairs on its 20 floors.
In the first months of Kalish Rotem's tenure as mayor of the city, the stair race was supposed to be held. Kalish Rotem wanted to open the race to a tender, when it was not clear if such a possibility actually existed. Either way, we ended up not running.
One of the mayor's memorable statements was that it is not the municipality's role to entertain the residents. Then came November. Personally, I think that a race for the whole city is not "just fun" and has many other important meanings. Some believe that since Shihav has held all the races, Kalish Rotem is not interested in continuing the tradition he signed. Either way, we didn't run that November.
Then came the corona virus, no one knew what was right and what was wrong. It is worth noting that the municipality provided a sort of digital solution for the existence of the Haifa Half Marathon, but of course it is not the same. This is how we got to September 2021.
So what about the race?
In about two months, the Haifa race is supposed to take place, and the corona, in light of the familiarity we have already developed with the virus, does not prevent the joint running in the open air. I contacted the municipality several times to find out if there was any preparation for the run, but I did not receive any answer. I contacted council members from the coalition who did not know the fate of this year's race. The members of the opposition council promised that they would submit a query on the subject, but until they discuss it, it must be assumed that November will pass.
In many interviews, Klish Rotem talks about having a karate belt. She likes to exercise and recognizes the importance of a healthy mind in a healthy body. In light of these statements, it is even more unclear why not to have such a beautiful and joyful enterprise, which works great and for many, for 20 years. Why don't we return to running once a year, tens of thousands of people together? Who cares about having such an exciting event in our city?
"I am the father of 3 children," says Omer, a resident of Wardia, "with the two oldest I would run in every race in Haifa. The schools would give the option to bring the children to the sea independently and that's what we did. We would wait for the schools to start the 1.5 km course." M, which was also not easy for the children. There was an atmosphere of a big and happy happening. The kids were really waiting for it and so was I. It was nice that one day a year they got out of the classroom and instead of sitting and studying moved their bodies a little, which is something the kids today hardly do, with all these screens in every direction."
What fun it is to run with the kids
"Then I had a girl in municipal kindergarten," Omer continues, "she has grown since then and is now in the first grade. If there was a Haifa race in November, I would have already been able to run with the three children. I don't understand why such an event should be canceled, but I understand that it will be like this Another two years and then a new mayor will come, who will return everything that was taken from us. For 5 years the city has been sad, dirty and without running and street parties. I wish there would be a mayor who would learn from all the mistakes and return the city to the sane place where it was."
Only the municipality can
Personally, I actually think that the role of the municipality, among other things, is to entertain the residents and the population of the city, which pays such a high property tax and receives so little. The municipality is the only one that can take care of a road and close it for a few hours to hold a street party, and what's nicer than the whole city going out, meeting, connecting, drinking, eating and enjoying performances? It's good for business, it's good for residents and unfortunately it's over.
And as for the races - there is something about tens of thousands of people running together that cannot be compared to regular runs. What's more, for the runs, the roads from Meridian to the lower city are closed. It's hard to describe how beautiful it is to run together with the beach by your side.
run together
In the Haifa race, crowds of people go out to run together. My brothers and I try to do this, of course it only lasts a few moments after the start... I have a brother who is 11 years younger than me, but still, it's nice to go running together. My brothers, for example, are less fond of the stair race, where I run alone because I actually like it. In my first apartment I lived on the fourth floor without an elevator, and in the second apartment on the fifth floor, although there was an elevator in the building, it was like a cable car and I did not dare to enter it. In any case, stairs are no stranger to me and I really like the race and the climb from the lower city, through Hadar, Hadar Alion, the Carmel Center and the Dan Panorama Hotel. The race lasts about 30 minutes, but after 18 floors in Dan Panorama, the will to live really leaves you for a few moments, it returns only after you finish.
Here, too, the municipality is the only one that has the power to close the roads. Many people from outside Haifa come to participate in the race. The stair race is so unique to Haifa and highlights its difference and charm compared to the other cities, so its non-existence only adds another layer of sorrow to the one that existed in the first place.
Even when the Carmelite was burned and shut down, the race continued to take place, despite the additional difficulty of getting from the lower city to the center of Carmel without the Carmelite, but we overcame that too.
Perhaps one can understand the difficulty in continuing the initiatives signed by the previous mayor, if indeed that is the case, but the Haifa races were here even before him and will be here even after the current mayor. Bottom line, it's a shame they don't exist and I wish this fact would change soon.
Hi
I originally live in Hai, I know all the steps from the city to Carmel because the Heinis go down to the city and go up on their backs back to Carmel. I would love to participate in the race for the stairs to Kshesa will take place again...
And there was also a night race in the lower city and in the port. I personally think that the most Haifa is the stair race, which has no other in the country, and I would be devastated if the Haifa race was returned to its original route on the axis of the ridge. This way all the residents of Carmel can come on foot with the children and participate in the experience. On the route of the seashore, only those who run arrive. And there is the experience of encouragement along the way. In all cities in the country the race takes place within the city.
The only place Ms. Kalish should be is in her own home. she is miserable She has no experience in managing huge budgets, no transparency, bringing in office holders friends of hers and friends with huge salaries to the municipality when on the contrary the staffing status should be reduced... and at the same time with all the government ministries. There are no construction starts in the city and nothing. Except Nahal Ovadia and the pigs. God forbid she is not a bad person and her intentions are good but it is better for her to return home.
The master's plans she brought up are suitable for a child in the second grade and there is no financial feasibility. Whoever gave her this money should ask for it back. Is she an architect?? lol
Obviously there is no race. Because the municipality has no money. A live municipality from the air?
Instead of going to the government every day to ask for money... she locks herself in a cage and doesn't answer the phones. home The ceremony is over.
It is sad to see what happened to this city, those who are a little interested in history will discover that in the first decades of the twentieth century it was the central city in the Land of Israel. It's sad to see where that line of failed mayors has degenerated. The conclusion is unequivocal - run away as fast as possible!
The stair race was stopped due to someone named Nichlis who appropriated it and claimed he owned the "copyright" of the course and the sponsors. The mayor did not give a hand to this extortion. that even the previous mayor Yahav cultivated. And Nichlis threatened with court. This is of course complete nonsense and Haifa veterans went down and up the stairs running or walking before Nislis was even born. And to the best of my recollection, the race was also canceled when the Carmelite was in Mikra at the same time disabled due to the fire. By the way, the route that Nishalis "invented" is the worst because it runs along crowded and polluted streets in the center of Hadar and stops the flow of traffic. and requires large police forces. And once it almost ended in disaster when the police were daydreaming and the first runners passed right under the wheels of a bus that did not stop. We witnessed an accident. At the Herzl intersection the prophets Shabtai Levi. In front of the post office.
All life is running, so keep running without the municipality.
The municipality is dormant, striking and not functioning. I don't understand why they don't fire Klish???
I also really miss the exciting race to the beach with the special atmosphere. I recently participated in it at the age of 66 and managed to run 10 km thanks to the team spirit, while as an individual I only run 5 km at most. Since this event, the race has been canceled and you have to travel to another city to enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I no longer have expectations from the current mayor. I wish you would die.
There is no city in the world that does not have a race. London, Newark, Berlin, Boston are just some of the examples. Cities that are a little bigger and associations will not give up on their heights.
There were days when Haifa was alive and vibrant back in the 90s, when I was still a child in elementary school, the Carmel was full of tourists, I remember the Haifa race well, there is no race I would not participate in, come on, how excited I would be. On all independence holidays, fireworks shows, bazaars, concerts Hadar was bustling with people, and it was a good time, but the reality is that I am considering moving from Haifa.
Let them also take care of flat running tracks, not only in the sea and not on grooved stone instead of a road. See Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv.
How come this 'elephant skin' doesn't return the keys and go (a sprint would be better) to her house?!?!?! There is no corner of this city that she has not been able to destroy...
I'm shocked by her response - isn't the purpose of the municipality also to take care of entertainment???? This sentence is insane..
The Haifa race is replaced by the pig race and the stair race by the ultra-Orthodox race to the synagogues...
Find the differences between the two groups….
Happy Sukkot and run to the Sukkah...
There is no "entertainment" here.
Sports activities, sports events are part of the basket of culture, education and sports that every municipal authority, certainly the third largest in Israel, is obliged to provide to the residents. In addition to events such as the Stair Race and the Haifa Race, there is a touristic element of promoting tourism to the city, the city's image, the development of urban tradition and social cohesion. All these goals are extremely important beyond the sport itself.
It is true that the Stair Race event was managed in a shocking manner under Yahav, who gave his friend's son Danny Nishalis, as a sole production company and without a tender, the management of the event as a conduit for the transfer of millions of shekels every year both for the production of the events without a tender, and later for their publication in the media of the Nishalis family.
The Nischlis family of course provided a return on Radio Haifa in the form of extremely sympathetic coverage, and in the promotion of the mayor in the elections. The problematic relations between the owner of a media organization, his son who owns an event production company, and the mayor, the appointment of the owner of the media organization as chairman of the Haifa Theater, after which he was added to his list for the municipality - were in terms of capital-rule-microphone.
Therefore, the stair race, as well as other events managed by the "Goldfish" company, was a symbol of the depth of governmental corruption in the eyes of many in the municipal opposition. But we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The stair race event, which was proposed 20 years ago, and came up again and again in blogs and among many sports fans and was "politically robbed" by the same production company (which brazenly claimed ownership of it!)
It must be returned in an urban, real folk format as an orderly race organized in orderly and organized staircases and not in the improvised way in dangerous and narrow staircases in which it was conducted.
To this end, I would suggest renovating all the designated staircases for the track so that the whole of it would have a minimum width of no less than 3 meters with an orderly railing, produce for the track an organized race with prizes and national sponsorships, produce for it a tourist advertising package for the city and not do excavation work every year as which has so far been on the subject but under the ATOs or any other body, to manage it in a municipally regulated manner as a sports attraction all year round!! That is: as a route for fitness and a challenge for groups or individuals even without a race, as part of a popular and neighborhood sport that anyone can organize with their friends with the help of symbols The edges of the track and guidance maps along it, unique lighting, signage and attraction all year round, not just on one day of the race.
It is a cultural activity as well as for the city to entertain and promote community building activities. And to encourage sport in visibility and popular experience is definitely part of the goals of the municipality.
It's a shame that good things that happened in the city are disqualified just because they were organized by the previous mayor
If now in Corona it is forbidden to congregate as the comment before me said, then how exactly do hundreds of people congregate in the movie theaters in the auditorium and cinematheque for the film festival??
One law for all. If it is possible to hold a film festival and football games with thousands of spectators, surely it is possible to hold sports events and running in the open air all the more. You can launch from a few points and a few hours and thus make the most of the event.
Whiners now Corona is not allowed to gather like this at all
And that the roads were closed because of the race you complained
Residents of Haifa, whining, you got what you deserved -
You are Kalish Rotem