The popular marathon runner Panker holidaysThe 56-year-old from Kiryat Ata, who serves in the Haifa Police, returned to Israel this week with another coveted medal in his possession. Running the "Sydney Marathon 2026" Held at the end of August (8/30/2026) in Australia. The length of this marathon is 42.195 km or 26.6 miles, with the long route of this marathon ending near the Sydney Opera House, after the route also passed over the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. Panker finished the marathon with a beautiful and impressive result of 5:45:43.
לPanker holidays From Kiryat Ata, this is his 74th official marathon in which he has participated, many of them abroad. His previous marathon in which he participated was in the city of Larnaca, Cyprus, in November, and before that he participated and ran in 3 marathons, day after day in Italy in August 2025. PunkerHe has also been an amateur photographer for many years and captures his runs as he runs.
Punker, is a well-known figure in the field of athletics, especially in long-distance running, and is widely known for being a figure who has been documenting for over 35 years with still and video footage of many and varied running competitions in Israel and in various countries around the world. We should add that Hagai participated as a pacer in the "Haifa Race" that was recently held together with his son and promised that he will soon participate in the "Haifa Marathon" that will be held on 20.11.26 in Haifa.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the Sydney Marathon has become, over the years, one of the 8 "Major" marathons in the world, after the original Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York marathons, joined by Cape Town.
At the end of this marathon, the winner among the men was Addisu Govna from Ethiopia who ran in an excellent and impressive time of 2:04:42, a new course record, while the winner among the women won the race Jepchircir Award She also came from Kenya in an amazing and impressive time of 2:18:31.
This year they took part in"Sydney Marathon 2026" And nearly 40,000 runners from all over the world participated in it, with nearly 40 runners from Israel taking part, who could only register through a lottery for anyone who tries, about six months ago, or through a travel company for about $3,000 including hotel and registration fees, without flights, or through a donation to one of the organizations approved by the Sydney Marathon 2026, such as an animal shelter, women fighting cancer, parents suffering from Alzheimer's, St. Jude's Hospital, and others who also charge about $3,000 for guaranteed registration.
We would also like to note that the "2026 Sydney Marathon" course is the most difficult of all eight marathons, due to the multiple climbs, while in the rest of the Magnificent Seven - the running area is much flatter. This year's marathon saw 3 records broken, 1 overall for men, finishing in approximately 02:04:40, overall for women, and wheelchairs, which broke last year's record.
In an interview with the website "Hai Fa News Corporation" he said with great excitement Panker holidays"The weather during the marathon here in Sydney was very hot. For me, this is also my second Sydney Marathon in which I am participating and running. The last time, about 10 years ago, in order to enter Australia, you had to apply for a tourist visa, while today the Australian embassy is not easy with entry permits to Australia. Unfortunately, a group of local anti-Semites also heard about our Israeli runners, and they demonstrated in front of the hotel, demonstrated with flags and loudspeakers in front of the hotel, mainly on the day of the race. The Sydney police heard about this and at the same time also placed more police officers in the area. We had no incidents or unusual cases."
Also in Sydney, a 5km shake run race was held in which less experienced runners and family members of marathoners could participate, and in which tens of thousands of athletes participated, including, of course, Panker holidaysWe would like to remind you again that on 20.11.26 the first "Haifa Marathon" will be held, which is also scheduled to Panker holidays To participate and take part. In two weeks, the "Berlin Marathon" is scheduled to be held in Germany, which, as mentioned, is one of the eight prestigious majors.
