Running in Jerusalem… and why it’s different from running in most other places.

When most people want to go out for a run the factors that go into it are usually “What’s the weather like? How lazy am I today? Do I have any clean running clothes? Where am I going to run? How long? Etc…”

I too ask myself all these questions, but sometimes I have to ask myself some very “Jerusalem” oriented questions. For example: “Have there been any terror attacks in that area in the last week? Is it safe to be running that close to an Arab village? Which neighborhoods will I be running through today — which translates too: how modest should todays running clothes be?”

I hate these questions. These questions suck. My sole concerns should be clean clothes and weather, but unfortunately they are not. I live in an interesting city. It’s probably one of the most diverse cities on the planet, but with diversity comes it’s own slew of specific problems.

Now, you may be thinking… “but what can you do to change anything? I thought you were just a simple gal trying to run the Jerusalem Marathon?” Well that’s exactly right, I am a gal trying to run the Jerusalem Marathon, but I am also a gal who will be running for peace.

I recently heard of an awesome running group called Runners Without Borders. They are a group of young beginner runners from all faiths who run together for coexistence. After the construction of the beautiful promenade train tracks and bike trail that connected Jewish and Arabs parts of Jerusalem together, running together is the perfect example of how to further incorporate coexistence into our lives and the lives of the citizens of Jerusalem.

I’m hoping to run with the group at the end of this month in their 2nd official 5k race.

I can’t change the entire political situation in Jerusalem, I can’t prevent terror attacks and hatred, but I can set a good example. Exercise is universal (or it should be); it’s not something that belongs to one faith or another. Running together side-by-side will show people that we are not that different. It will show people that we CAN live together, heck, if we can run a marathon together what can’t we do? (I’d like to see Bibi and Abbas run a marathon together, if they can survive that together then they can totally sit down to some friendly stationary peace talks).

Even though the situation here seems pretty terrible, there are still places a few mere kilometers from me where it’s even worse. A Muslim friend of mine and fellow runner was telling me that in Ramallah there is no such thing as going for a “casual run”, he said that if people see someone running they assume something is wrong, either he stole something, was involved in an incident or is being chased by someone. Although my friend may have been joking or exaggerating, this type of mentality is absolutely present in many places in the region we live in.

Another example of this kind of opposition can be seen through Haneen Radi, an Arab-Israeli runner from the town of Tira in Northern Israel. She faced opposition from her community when trying to plan a marathon in her home town. The opposition was to the tune of woman running publicly in clothing that are not deemed modest. Because of this opposition she finds herself running in predominately Jewish areas.

Running together is sending a message to both sides. It is expressing a love of health. It is proving that we can and will run together. That we refuse to be enemies.
One of the most beautiful moments of running in the morning in Jerusalem can be hearing church bells, Jewish morning prayers (or shofar, depending on the month) and the Muslim call to prayer all within the same two minutes. I know that I’m taking the steps that I can to try and live in a Jerusalem where I don’t have to worry about anything other than the weather (which here, is generally pretty great).

Are you?