On Friday, 03/11/2017, the 20th Haifa race took place, for the fourth year in a row, on the flat course along the seashore. Among the winners in the various ends, young Haifa women from the Maccabi Haifa club in the triathlon. Live here with a report on the winners and the story of the Haifaites in the division.
The 20th Haifa race was held in four stages: 21.1 km (half marathon), 10 km, 5 km, 2.5 km and 1.2 km. For the first time this year the race was recognized as a "track". Competitive" by the International Association of Athletics [IAAF] After the running distances were officially measured by a certified surveyor of the union. In addition, among the participants of this year's race are about 60 disabled people who will each be accompanied personally, school students, children and adults including retirees aged 80 and over.
About 15,000 runners from all over the country participated in the various races and of course quite a few Haifaites. The Maccabi Haifa triathlon club, under the guidance of Ilan Goldman, who also participated in the race and won third place in the men's 5 km division, had an impressive representation among the winners and, to be precise, winners. In the women's 5 km category, the first three places were won by the club's triathletes- Tal Weintraub, Haifa, 17 years old, in first place, Nisrin Farhood, Haifa, 34 years old, in second place and Neta Efrat, Haifa, 15 years old, in third place.
Tal Weintraub, The winner of the first place in the women's division, was interviewed by Lahi Fe and talked about the preparations for the race, the experience of participating and winning:
"In the Haifa race, I participated in the 5 kilometer leg. As a group we did specific training for the day of the competition and I felt ready. The day of the race is always an exciting day - many runners, music and of course the expectation that all the training will coalesce into one good run. I started the run strongly but restrained and tried to keep at a constant pace according to feeling. At the end of the race, I discovered that I came first overall in women and in the category - something that added to the feeling of energy accompanying the race. I was happy to see that the hard training led to success. I will conclude by saying that it was a good experience both on the personal level and on the team level, as were the other members of the group You placed yourself in the leading places. I'm sure this experience left a taste for more in everyone. See you in the next races!"
Another Haifai who participated in the race is Assaf Gershgoran, a married+3 lawyer who has been involved in the sport for years and is no stranger to marathons.
The race I ran today is the maximum in Haifa - a half marathon (21.1 km). I ran it before in less than an hour and fifty.
The target this time is 1:55. It is an urban race, on a highway, with a beautiful view of the sea that accompanies all the stages of the run. All the runners in Haifa and the surrounding area, and there are many, take part in it. My background is generally soccer (until the youth in Maccabi Haifa) over the years I switched to running and this is a hobby that has been with me for many, many years. In the end I finished with a result of 1:53 - I met the goal with respect, it was
Very nicely organized and ideal weather.
Lahi Fe also had a representative in the race: our reporter Michal Yaron (42) who competed in the 10 km race.
Michal told about her race experience: "I didn't train for the race, but I regularly exercise in the gym and run in the sea. I really like the races in Haifa, both the Haifa race and the stairs race. There is something special when 15 thousand people run together. First time I ran 10 km. It was very hard, very hot and very, very fun. I'm not a great runner, I was hoping not to be humiliated and to be able to finish the run and I did. The organization was excellent, the start was right on time and it was very organized and fun in the complex.
