Back in high school, I used to run cross-country. And, I used to run a lot of 10 kilometer races. I don't run much any more, but tend to stand on the sidelines and watch my son run. However, I do try to keep up with it. Recently, I read a number of articles about the Jerusalem Marathon. It was held yesterday with about 20,000 runners competing in the races.
The Jerusalem Post had a story about the race. In it, they interviewed the winner, Amos Matui from Kenya. I thought his quote was interesting.
Elite Kenyan runner Amos Matui, who won marathons in Singapore, the US state of Tennessee, and in Casablanca, Morocco, also said he expected his faith as a Seventh Day Adventist to carry him over the finish line. “It’s spiritual and exciting to see this ancient city,” he said. “This is my first time in Jerusalem, and it’s hillier than I expected... we hope to have a good emotional and impressive run.”
Yes, Jerusalem is hilly. The older part of the city consists of about 5 different hills with rather deep valleys running between them. In ancient times, these hills made it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It modern times, these same hills are apparently troublesome for marathoners.