Back to normal – thousands participated in the Ashkelon race

With a record number of participants, perfect weather and a sporty atmosphere, about 2,000 runners set off today (Friday) in four different legs of the Ashkelon race, with the highlight being the Israeli 15 km championship; this year, at the end of the race, there was a heroes' march to mark the heroism of the residents and residents of Ashkelon With the participation of the city's students, the security forces and IDF soldiers

In the Ashkelon Winner race named after the late Nathaniel Amre Girma finished first in the heat with a score of 49:39 and among women Ofir Forer Hadar finished the race with a score of 53:16. Gethon Yamer took second place in the Israeli 15 km championship and Zrafati Amit took third place. Among the women, Ruth Noa Barkman came in second place and Bikaia Mantamer third. There were three other competitive events in the race: in the 10 km event, Alamia Aymero and Salibek Rotem won first place . In the 5 km division, Penta Gizacho and Bikaya Mintamer won the first place.

The Ashkelon race was held this year together with the Nathanel race named after the late soldier Nathanel Moshiashvili who was killed in Gaza 12 years ago. His brother, the late Michael, also fell while performing his duty on the seventh of October and the next race will be named after both of them, the brothers' race. Also present were the members of the Moshiashvili family and the chairman of the Toto, Shabtai Tzur, alongside the deputy mayor, Shay Amira, the director general of the municipality, Hazi Haloya, the director of the youth culture and sports department, Dafna Amira Biton, and the director of the sports department, Marcelo Bordman.

At the end of the race, the first heroes' march of its kind was launched in the city to celebrate the heroism of Ashkelon residents and residents, in which thousands of the city's high school students, representatives of the security forces and soldiers who served in the Iron Swords War and were injured during the fighting took part.

At the end of the march, an emotional rally was held in the presence of the mayor, Tomer Glam, and the hero of Israel, the resident soldier Yonatan Ben Hamo who was wounded in Gaza. At the end of things, an exciting demonstration was held for the return of the abductees and kidnappers in Gaza, which included the release of yellow balloons. At the end, Subliminal and the Ashkelon duo Eliad Sapir and Aviv Raskai came on stage to perform in front of the thousands of students.

The mayor, Tomer Glam, who launched the race and the heroes' march, said: “Ashkelon is a strong city and its population and residents are the real heroes of the war, its security forces, its soldiers and the hundreds of volunteers who make up our wonderful city, in routine and especially in emergencies. Thank you to all the participants in the march , in a demonstration to strengthen human resilience and heroism in Ashkelon, I thank all the runners who came and enjoyed the excellent weather and the most beautiful beach in Israel.”