More than 40,000 runners are expected to descend upon Tel Aviv to participate in the 2015 Tel Aviv Marathon sponsored by Samsung. Taking place on Friday, 8 Adar, runners from Israel and abroad will participate together in Israel’s largest international sports event.

42.195 km long, the marathon ends next to Ganei Yehoshua Park with an after-party for the participants and events throughout the evening. A large expo will take place in Rabin Square from 3-6 Adar with runners’ kit distribution, lectures and booths run by world leading sports companies. The traditional pasta party will happen the night before the marathon which will be a day of celebration with music playing along the route in keeping with the flair of Tel Aviv’s world famous Nonstop City life.

The marathon is as diverse as its participants and encompasses the entire city, passing through the heart of Tel Aviv and its main streets and sites. The route incorporates the sensational Rothschild Boulevard and other tree-lined streets of the Nonstop City exhibiting the vast collection of Bauhaus buildings, the Azrieli sky scrapers, the 8km stretch of beach promenade along the Mediterranean, the Sarona Templars Colony, HaYarkon Park and the ancient city of Jaffa and its historical port.

Tel Aviv Marathon 2015 is expected to draw 150,000 people to participate in the plethora of events surrounding the full-marathon. Additional sports events include a half-marathon, 10km and 5km races and a hand-cycle race.

Last year’s record for men was set at 2:14:39 by Ezekiel Koech from Kenya and is expected to be broken again this year. The women’s record, set in 2012 by Adeba Tola Eda from Ethiopia stands at 2:38:27. Bonus monetary prizes of $25,000 are available to those men and women able to complete the full marathon within designated time frames. Leading international athletes will arrive in Tel Aviv in the days before the Marathon, many holding records from other global and will compete with Israel’s home athletes for first place.

Tl Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said “The 2015 Tel Aviv Marathon is one of the most spectacular races in Israel and stands alongside the great marathons of the world. The marathon is a big celebration not only for the athletes but also for the city’s residents and its visitors, and this year we are glad to celebrate with a record number of participants”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)