Tiberias Marathon

Tiberias Marathon
Dateearly January
LocationSea of Galilee, Israel
Event typeRoad running
Distance42.195 km
Primary sponsorToto Winner
Established1977
Course recordsMen: 2:07:30 (2012)
France Patrick Tambwé
Women: 2:25:45 (2017)
Ethiopia Hiwot Gebrekidan
Official siteTiberias Marathon
Participants1,053 finishers (2021)
1,670 (2020)
1,108 (2019)

The Tiberias Marathon is an annual marathon road race held along the Sea of Galilee in Israel. At approximately 200 meters below sea level, this is the lowest course in the world. The competition was first held in 1977, and also hosts the annual Israeli marathon national championship. It was Israel's first international marathon event.[1]

The course follows an out-and-back format around the southern tip of the sea, and the event also includes a half-marathon (21.1 km) and 10 and 5-kilometer runs. In 2010 the 10 km race was moved from the afternoon to before the marathon. The half-marathon race was added in 2018.

The latest edition of the event was held on 9 December 2022. David (Necho) Tayachew of Ben Shemen Youth Village and a member of the Maccabi Tel Aviv athletics club, won the men's marathon category with a personal record time of 2:13:00. Beatie Deutsch won the women's category for the fourth time in 2:41:20.[2]

In 2007, a Kenyan-born Bahraini athlete, Mushir Salem Jawher (Leonard Mucheru Maina), won the race and was briefly stripped of his Bahrani citizenship by the Bahrani government for competing in Israel.[3] In 2012 Patrick Tambwé, a former Congolese runner representing France, ran a course record of 2:07:30 hours – a time which was the fastest by a European since 2007.[4]

Past winners

Key:   Course record   Race longer than marathon distance

Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1977  Werner Dörrenbacher (FRG) 2:19:33  Zehava Shmueli (ISR) 3:02:58
2nd 1978  Kevin Shaw (RSA) 2:14:02  Claire Taylor (RSA) 3:08:18
3rd 1979  Werner Dörrenbacher (FRG) 2:18:31  Mazal Shalom (ISR) 3:16:06
4th 1981 (Jan)  James Dingwall (GBR) 2:16:19  Zehava Shmueli (ISR) 2:52:45
5th 1981 (Dec)  Colin Kirkham (GBR) 2:17:11  Gillian Drake (NZL) 2:46:37
6th 1982  Ralf Salzmann (FRG) 2:16:39  Sally Strauss (USA) 2:46:15
7th 1983  Hans Pfisterer (FRG) 2:20:00  Chantal Langlacé (FRA) 2:41:58
8th 1984  Lindsay Robertson (GBR) 2:16:28  Siv Larsson (SWE) 3:05:19
9th 1985  Lindsay Robertson (GBR) 2:15:39  Sharlet Gilbert (USA) 2:42:54
10th 1986  Yair Karni (ISR) 2:23:12  Kerstin Preßler (GER) 2:36:33
11th 1987  Lindsay Robertson (GBR) 2:16:06  Maija Vuorinen (FIN) 2:42:15
12th 1988  Patrick Joannes (FRA) 2:18:08  Maija Vuorinen (FIN) 2:40:01
13th 1989  Reta Negasa (ETH) 2:15:23  Maria Starovská (TCH) 2:40:39
14th 1990  Ahmed Hussein (ETH) 2:18:55  Valentina Enachi (URS) 3:00:32
— 1991 Not held
15th 1992  Lemi Chengere (ETH) 2:17:07  Marika Starovska (TCH) 2:34:17
16th 1993  Lemi Chengere (ETH) 2:17:30  Frith van der Merwe (RSA) 2:39:11
17th 1994  Ahmed Hussein (ETH) 2:14:52  Liora Leibowitz (ISR) 2:51:36
18th 1995  Ahmed Hussein (ETH) 2:15:10  Tatyana Leonova (MDA) 2:56:38
19th 1996  Wodage Zvadya (ISR) 2:19:30  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:57:19
20th 1997  Lemi Chengere (ETH) 2:16:41  Alemitu Bekele (ETH) 2:52:48
21st 1998  Moges Taye (ETH) 2:12:51  Abeba Tolla (ETH) 2:41:21
22nd 1999  Dube Jillo (ETH) 2:17:38  Orna Blau (ISR) 2:48:39
23rd 2000  Asaf Bimro (ISR) 2:19:45  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:42:06
24th 2001  Paul Tangus (KEN) 2:17:06  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:44:57
25th 2002  Simon Bor (KEN) 2:16:13  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:36:40
26th 2003  Moges Taye (ETH) 2:12:45  Esther Einer (ISR) 2:51:06
27th 2004  Habtamu Bekele (ETH) 2:15:39  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:38:42
28th 2005  Habtamu Bekele (ETH) 2:18:08  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:44:50
29th 2006  John Rotich (KEN) 2:15:43  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:54:49
30th 2007  Leonard Maina (BHR) 2:13:13  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:39:25
31st 2008  Leonard Maina (KEN) 2:10:32  Nili Abramski (ISR) 2:39:15
32nd 2009  Jackson Kotut (KEN) 2:08:07  Irene Kosgei (KEN) 2:39:07
33rd 2010  Simon Kariuki (KEN) 2:11:09.5  Emily Samoei (KEN) 2:36:40.3
34th 2011  Stephen Chemlany (KEN) 2:10:02  Abaynesh Sisay (ETH) 2:44:31
35th 2012  Patrick Tambwé (FRA) 2:07:30  Tinibt Gidey (ETH) 2:40:08
36th 2013  Dominic Ondoro (KEN) 2:08:00  Ashete Bekere (ETH) 2:40:22
37th 2014  Tariku Jufar (ETH) 2:10:32  Divina Jepkosgei (KEN) 2:34:41
38th 2015  Hailu Mekonnen (ETH) 2:12:32  Riki Salem (ISR) 2:54:02
39th 2016  Teferi Kebede (ETH) 2:15:31  Edinah Kwambai (KEN) 2:51:16
40th 2017  Habtamu Wegi (ETH) 2:16:39  Hiwot Gebrekidan (ETH) 2:25:45
41st 2018  Girmaw Amare (ISR) 2:15:31  Ayantu Abera (ETH) 2:40:37
42nd 2019  Haimro Alame (ISR) 2:15:16  Beatie Deutsch (ISR) 2:42:18
43rd 2020  Tachlowini Gabriyesos (ERI) 2:14:56  Beatie Deutsch (ISR) 2:32:25
44th 2021  Daniel Molushet (ISR) 2:17:08  Beatie Deutsch (ISR) 2:41:12
45th [2] 2022  David (Necho) Tayachew (ISR) 2:13:00  Beatie Deutsch (ISR) 2:41:20

Wins by country

Beatie Deutsch after winning the 2019 Tiberias Marathon
Country Men's race Women's race Total
 Israel 7 20 27
 Ethiopia 16 7 23
 Kenya 8 4 12
 Great Britain 5 0 5
 Germany 4 1 5
 France 2 1 3
 South Africa 1 2 3
 Finland 0 2 2
 Moldova 0 2 2
 Czechoslovakia 0 2 2
 United States 0 2 2
 Bahrain 1 0 1
 Eritrea 1 0 1
 New Zealand 0 1 1
 Sweden 0 1 1

See also

References

  1. ^ This Week in NYRR History. New York Road Runners. Retrieved on 2011-01-14.
  2. ^ a b "דוד טיאצ'ו אלוף ישראל ומרתון טבריה" [David Tiacho is the Tiberias marathon champion]. Sports-5 Israel (in Hebrew). 2022-12-09.
  3. ^ Sharrock, David (9 January 2007). "How an Arab who used to be Kenyan made history running in Israel — and ended up in a hell of a state". Times Online. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  4. ^ France's Tambwe triumphs in Tiberias Marathon in 2:07:30 Archived 2012-01-20 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2012-01-14). Retrieved on 2012-01-15.
List of winners
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