(Live here in sports and in the community) - Sports events, races and marathons have been part of Haifa over the years, including the Haifa Race, the Night Race, the Good Deeds Race, and the Stair Race - colorful and fun events, infused with a sporting and community spirit, that connected many residents of Haifa and also brought many participants from all over the country. . Young people alongside adults, children, teenage boys and girls, skilled runners and those who are their first time, all ran side by side, in one big and happy event. This year, it turns out, these races will not take place.
Not this year
In recent years, during the month of September, the night race was held in Haifa. The race mostly took place in the downtown area and the port, and includes distances of 5 km and 10 km. After that, at the beginning of November, the Haifa race would take place.
For two years, there were no races at all, due to the Corona crisis and the ban on holding mass events. But last year, when the panic surrounding the virus began to ease a little, the night race took place in Haifa on 03/11/21. The start of the race in the lower city, continue towards Bat Galim and then to the port of Haifa and back (5 and 10 km). This year, unlike last year, not every race will take place in Haifa.
3 races in Haifa
It should be noted that until October 2018, 3 races were held in Haifa every year. In November, the Haifa race took place, in the Pesach High School - the good deeds race (in the center of Carmel) and during the month of May - the stairs race.
Perhaps this is the time to mention that when Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem assumed her position as mayor, she announced that in her humble opinion it is not the municipality's role to entertain and amuse the residents...
Regarding the stair race, there were disagreements with whoever initiated the race and was responsible for it during the years it was held, so the race has not been held since the previous mayor, Yona Yahav, finished his term.
The stair race
The stair race allows athletes and anyone interested in running, to climb 1,000 stairs, from the lower city to the center of Carmel, or to climb 1,500 stairs, from the lower city to the 20th floor of the Dan Panorama Hotel in the center of Carmel, this is in addition to a 3 km run.
The unique thing about the stair race was that it brought to light the special character of Haifa as a mountain city. Many people and children with a sporting spirit came to him, most of them also those who do not live in Haifa, they joined hundreds of the city's residents who went out to run and climb the stairs together. It was an event that turned into a colorful and fun happening.
Even before the start, everyone did a common aerobic warm-up for all the runners, after which thousands of people started running together, all on their way up the mountain. The entire event was accompanied by music, various booths and medals that were distributed to everyone at the Kindergarten. Along with those who participated in the race for fun, there were also athletes who did the course in order to achieve the best time and there were also athletes who started the race on Thursday evening and went up and down the stairs throughout the night.
20 year old Haifa race
The Haifa race has been held for over 20 years. In the first 15 years, the race was held from the center of Carmel to the center of Horeb or to Beit Biram and it was necessary to close many streets throughout the city, so at a later stage it was moved to the seaside. Students from all the schools in the city, young and old, came every year to run a half marathon, 10 km, 5 km or 2 km. This is a huge event, which attracted many from our city, who came to Haifa Beach to run together and enjoy the sporty and happy atmosphere .
Sport and contribution to the community
Two other races were, as mentioned, the good deeds race during Passover and the night race that took place at the beginning of September. The Good Deeds race was held at the Mother's Garden in the center of Carmel and the runners can choose for which cause they would like to donate. The more kilometers the participant runs, the higher amount will be donated to the chosen cause. Here too it was a big and happy happening, and you could see, alongside trained people and those who run regularly, also families, parents with strollers, people running with their dog and of course many children. In the night race, those who wanted to run went down to the lower city and ran in the dark from the Dagon silos to the Dolphin Junction and from there to the port of Haifa and back to the starting point.
In the last 4 years, many events that have already become a Haifa tradition and that we have become accustomed to taking place every year have been discontinued. Alongside this, every year the municipality invests significant sums of money in the "Holiday of the Holidays" events that take place in December.
It is true that there are things that a person can do on his own without investment from the municipality, so every person can run as much as he likes, but an event with the participation of hundreds and thousands of runners, this already requires the organization of the municipality. This is a very large expense, police permits, ambulances along the way, drinking stations, extensive security for the event and much more. And if the municipality decides not to hold these events, which have sporting, community and social value, there is no substitute for that.
Contrary to what is happening in Haifa, in other cities around us there are certainly races. A race was held in the Carmel Castle, as well as in Usafia, Acre and Nesher. Needless to mention the Tel Aviv race, which attracts tens of thousands of runners from all over the country every year. There are also cities that, along with the races that take place in them, also organize joint swimming.
"The well-being of the residents is probably a nuisance for Klish"
The chairman of the Green faction, Avihu Han, claims that the cancellation of the Haifa race is just one of a chain of cancellations of events during Kalish Rotem's term: "If anyone was looking for another reason why Kalish should be replaced quickly - she herself gave it when she canceled the Haifa race, cancellation which is just the latest in a long chain of cultural and sports events that were canceled at her behest. "Tsovatz" events, stair races, marathon and half marathon races, bicycle activities and much more. The well-being of the residents is probably a nuisance for Klish, in her opinion there is no reason for the residents to receive compensation for the toll - the property tax paid by the residents in Haifa is one of the highest in the country. One of the first things I will do in my position when I replace Klish, will be to bring back all the canceled sports and cultural events. The residents deserve more."
"Klish destroyed the city in all areas, including sports"
Council member Attorney Sharit Golan Steinberg said in relation to the Haifa race that Klish ruined the city in all areas, as well as in the field of sports: "I hope that the mayor will come to his senses and realize that a municipality that does not know how to entertain and give a platform to residents for recreation and sports is a municipality that its residents will run away from. We saw this only recently, in the data published on the negative immigration that is taking place from Haifa. Klish's tenure will be remembered as the one that left no motivation for young people to stay in this city."
"It doesn't make sense that Haifa is already losing not only to Tel Aviv, but to the small cities in the vicinity"
Council member Kirill Kartnik himself likes to run and sees every day many Haifaites who go out to run on the seashore and would surely enjoy themselves if races were held in the city: "It's a shame that they canceled another event so significant for Haifa. I always say that today we, as the third largest city, are no longer Losing only to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, these to our neighboring cities... There are no races in Haifa, but where there are in Acre, Usafia and Nesher.
Anyone who passes by the Carmel beach promenade early in the morning or in the evening, sees that Haifaites like to run. Every year the boardwalk is filled with more residents who run and I also like to run both in the morning and in the evening. Unfortunately, we have already missed the momentum of producing the Champions League events, it was a unique opportunity to put our city on the international tourism map, so now is the time to move on.
Haifa needs as many events of this type as possible to connect the residents. After all, in the races the adults run with the young, the tourists run with the Haifaites, the people simply run together, each for his own reason.
You can build the course of the race next to businesses that will get another push in advertising, next to each business in the race you should put a table with water and advertising of that business - so that the businesses will cheer on the runners and get publicity. Alternatively, you can run in the most beautiful places in the city, so that those who come from outside the city will want to come back here again. You can call it the "tourist race", for example. The idea is to do something bigger than another race, something that will leave a mark, that will put Haifa on the map!
Be that as it may, some believe that since Yahav has held all the races, Kalish Rotem does not wish to continue the tradition he signed. I think that a race of the whole city is not "another event", but it has many other important meanings for all of us. Therefore, as a director of the tourism development association, I will raise the issue at the upcoming board meeting."
"Sports events that are a tradition in the city are important for promoting sports awareness"
The CEO of the Maccabi Haifa Association, Roy Schwetz, hopes that eventually the races will take place: "Big sports events, especially those that have already become a tradition in the city, are very important for promoting awareness of sports. I am sorry to hear that the events will not take place this year as well, and I hope that the decision will change in the end and the events will go ahead."
The municipality: "The council canceled the budget"
The Haifa Municipality stated in response that the budget for the sports events was submitted for approval by the City Council in various drafts, from October to the end of March 22 and was rejected each time. "The city council could have approved the budget in full, part of it, or any other option, but the bottom line is that the council decided to cancel the entire budget for sports events."
Who said there are no races in Haifa?
There are car races all the time.
This government does nothing.
The police are barely noticeable in the city.
We will vote for Ben Gavir so that they understand that we are fed up.
To all the members of the Council of Israel
In a position! ! !
Please - the mayor raised a ball for you -
For peace! ! !
From God and God to God !!!
The greens: Avihu, Moti and Co. - KDM!!!
And all the high-capacity
Let's live and live! ! !
B M K M - B R B R T?
Can't the city council members bypass Klish and organize a race? Come on, show some initiative. Thousands will come….
The city council members have been allowing Klish to make fun of the council and the city for 3 years and continue to fail in her job
Also changed 3 CEOs, no one was able to work with her, that says it all.
Instead of ending the circus, they give him a hand. It should have been announced that all 20 council members are resigning and demanding an immediate committee from the Ministry of the Interior.
In the 4 years that Haifa has been dozing, in Tel Aviv they have completed clearing half the city of vehicles for buses, completed light rail and underground lines, passed a metro law for an investment of NIS 150 billion, demolished the dolphinarium and built a new beach, renovated the city's promenades, and built some 40 office towers in Ayalon. At this time in Haifa there is a siesta... what is moving here? is nothing. A stupid cable car to nowhere and a bus line to Eagle. cheers
You are showing a partial image. Check who made a lot of money from organizing these marathons. Klish decided to put an end to corruption.
just what?
It seems she just put an end to things,
Whereas one new thing has not started since she was elected.
A problem.
The pig race will be unique to Haifa.
A number of pigs will be released on the streets of Haifa and the runners will have to run faster than them - so that the pigs will not run over them. Just like the bull races in the streets of Spain. I already have it there - the first Klish Rotem race... the second... and so on.
I happily embrace the pig race, but suggest instead that residents put the animal activists in the streets in front of them and a kliche with food bags and let the nice and good pigs run directly to their friends - the pigs will also come to visit the hospital after all the feeding and petting.
We don't need to make it a "race" because it will cost us more taxes
The municipality has no money for the minimum services,
Therefore, a municipality should not invest in sports.
For many years (two terms), Yahav and his people refused to hold marathon or triathlon events in the city, and the only race was the Haifa race which caused damage by closing the entire axis of the ridge for an entire evening. In the third term, half-marathon events took place on the Carmel beach, and even here parts of the coastal road had to be closed.
Haifa does not have enough continuous and wide promenades to hold such events as a result of poor planning of the city's sidewalks and beach promenades. This is the reality. The Stair Race and the Night Race and other events were managed monopolistically by the Goldfish company owned by the son of Danny Nishalis, the manager of Radio Haifa who was also on Yahav's list and an associate. It was a conduit for the flow, without a tender and in an improper manner, of millions of shekels for the organization of these events and their publication. In fact, there is no indirect budget for the positive coverage of Radio Haifa, both the events and of course the mayor, who also received a weekly program full of flattery.
Those events were managed in a popular and unprofessional manner, certainly compared to similar events. For example, there were no professional allocations and no actions were taken to get events recognized as part of sports leagues. The events may have managed to provide some urban entertainment, but they did not reach the level that brought the city international tourism or significant income such as marathons in cities around the world that are visited by tens of thousands of runners.
The Haifa municipality refused to renovate staircases, and the stair race was conducted in very problematic, too narrow staircases, which did not really allow any kind of race and also caused quite a few injuries. The fact that there are no organized routes in Haifa that can be closed without a substantial disruption to traffic also caused the cancellation of tonight's race. The fact that Haifa's population reached 23% retirees led to the investment of the budgets in Gimlaida, Milav and the Haifa Municipality Pensioners' Organization. The Haifa Municipality also tried to privatize facilities, for example Yahav tried to sell the public soccer fields in Neve Shanan to Goal Time to establish paid football fields, only due to pressure The operation has been canceled.
It can be said that Klish continues the Yahav tradition, disconnecting Haifa from popular sports, competitive sports and lack of investment in facilities, when the fig leaf is the purchase of the athlete, but this does not increase the number of pools in the city, and is not accessible from most parts of the city. The athletics stadium stands deserted most of the year. The football stadium stands empty all summer. Unlike other cities, there are no continuous running or cycling routes on the city's promenades.
Haifa needs young leadership, who will bring back sports and young people to the city, not in a haltorist way as was done here and there, but by managing professional events, prioritizing activities for young families and fostering folk and youth sports. We need to complete the athletics stadium, create training tracks for triathlons on the beaches, create a regular annual activity plan that will bring domestic and foreign tourism.
Even the holiday season, which undergoes endless changes and fails to stabilize, is an example of unprofessional management of cultural events in the city.
Everything starts from the top - but the entire municipality needs a different management, needs a new leadership and with no choice, a called committee.
The surfers already recognize that the Haifa media and cliche is not a love story and every Pips is doing an article condemning the city in Haifa. And if we admit the truth, there is still much that needs improvement in the city, but at the very least we can breathe that at least Yona Yahav, who degraded Haifa into the abyss, is already retired. He can't be any worse :)