By Ulla Hadar
DEAD SEA, ISRAEL–Last weekend the 5th of December was the date for the 2nd annualChallenge run held at the Dead Sea. This event is only one of several Ultra runs that has been introduced in Israel in the last few years.
250 runners set out on one of the three courses offered, 12 km, 20km and 30km. 1000 riders took part in the cycling race the following morning 100 athletes took part in the Ultimate Challenge of cycling and running.
All the participants met at the end of the race at the Solarium beach for a dip in the Dead Sea and the prize giving ceremony.
According to Carin Goldblatt, owner of the “Prosport” sport store and
pne of the organizers of these events,the idea of the races was born because a group of amateur athletes who enjoy running cross country wanted to run an Ultra Marathon
The first Ultra took place in the beautiful area of Meggido in 2007 with two courses, 53km and 17km.
This was followed in 2008 with 60km to commemorate the 60 years anniversary of Israel’s independence. In 2009 it was an 80km.
Goldblatt said “these races were so popular amongst the runners that we decided to offer two more races. A coastal race in September in the heat of the summer with sections running by the sea and on close by islands. And in the winter a race in the Desert in the area around the Dead Sea run at night under a full moon.”
All the races offer shorter and longer courses to appeal to a wide variety of abilities from 10km upwards. All are designed with the idea that running off road should be an uplifting experience and should take place amid beautiful scenery.
For the coming season of 2010 the following distances are available to the runners:The Ultra Marathon scheduled for the 5 of March 100km, 50km, 30km and 15km A well marked cross country course with hills, mud and water crossings
The Coastal race in September, 24km and 12km, will be a running race along the stunning Meditteranean coast with part of the course crossing over onto islands.
And a newcomer is the Adventure race in October with a 24 hour course and an 8 hour course – off-road cycling, running, orienteering and water challenges!
Finally in December there will be the Desert Race in the full moon with the option of just running at night, or just riding the same course during the day on off-road bikes, or doing the Ultimate Challenge of running and then cycling.
To get a feeling of what this run is all about here is the personal experiences of one of the runners, Helen Yahav from last year’s challenge run at the Dead Sea:
“I was quite surprised to find my partner waking me at 12:30 in the night for our drive to the start of the Desert Challenge.
“After a relatively uneventful journey punctuated with a lot of yawns and a thermos of coffee we arrived at the starting place just south of Ein Bokek on the Dead Sea. Getting out of the car and confronting the enormous moon hanging over the stunning scenery of the Dead Sea I began to appreciate the sacrifice of a Friday night’s sleep might not have been in vain. I was incredibly pleased to find I was not the only “sucker” to have been dragged out of bed.
“We were not a large group who gathered for the fairly simple instructions. “Put on your headlights run from stick-light to stick-light” don’t get lost, and if you do, don’t wander off too far in the dark, we will find you at first light!
“My partner and I had opted for the middle distance, the 20km. We could have gotten up even earlier and run 30 but we felt 20 was more than enough.
“The group set out and almost immediately the different pace of the runners made the field separate out. The eerie silence of the desert greeted us as we left the lighted start area and we were on our way, after a fairly straightforward 4 km run on a rocky jeep track with little or no height gain we reached the mouth of a canyon, the Sdom Canyon. The narrow walls on either side of the gentle upward slope of the canyon and the canyon floor winding from left to right made for one of the most stunning runs I had ever participated in. The bright light of the full moon reflected off the white walls of the canyon and sparkled where it hit the salt deposits in the rock.
“After about 7 km of following the stick-lights we came out of the narrow valley of the canyon and found ourselves on a vast open plain, Mishor Amiaz. The light from the moon was so bright I followed the lead of other runners and extinguished my headlamp, so that I could fully appreciate the milky white light and the moon behind our back lighting up the mountains of Sdom. The silence and the beauty of the scene took our breath away (or maybe our lack of breath had something to do with the slope of the canyon we had just climbed!)
“Strung out in front of us we saw the lights of other runners and the stick lights of the organizers light up the way straight across the plain. We set off at an easy run absolutely lost for words.
“Running in this area at night is quite easy. <y partner was worried about running off road, but we had no problems. We saw many runners who didn’t have head lights at all and managed fine in the full moon. The going underfoot was easy, the track was largely accessible to jeeps and there were no other obstacles to trip you. In the narrow canyons there is a wide enough trail to run comfortably, and again there were no obstacles to trip you up.
“Across Mishor Amiaz we reached the first and only water station, a makeshift tent with muted Eastern-style shanty music, water, isotone energy drinks and gels. I carry my own water but my partner was happy to stop and drink and chat with the volunteers before turning left down towards the Prazim Canyon.
“This part of the run was the most awe inspiring. The light of the moon sparkled off the salt crystals in the walls of the canyon and we ran down the canyon in total silence in scenery that was so stunning again it took our breath away. An easy 3.5 km from the mouth of the canyon took us back to the start/finish area and as the first rays of the sun showed over the mountains of Jordan, we crossed the finish.
“This is the first race I forgot to stop the timer on my watch. The timing didn’t really seem to matter! More information can be found on the website
www.ultra.org.il and pictures from previous races can be seen at the following link http://www.pro-sport.co.il/articles_info.php?item=64
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Hadar, an accomplished runner and biker is Sha’ar Hanegev bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World