(JTA) — A 26-year-old Ethiopian, Tadesse Dabi Yae, won the fifth annual Jerusalem Marathon.
Dabi defeated some 25,000 runners from 60 countries in Friday’s race, The Jerusalem Post reported. His winning time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 20 seconds was about 2 minutes slower than the record set last year by Ronald Kimeli Kurgat, 28, of Kenya, who won in 2:16:09.
Some of the runners participating in the race, which began shortly after 6 a.m. in order to prevent heat exhaustion, ran in groups, including those organized by Jewish organizations.
Dror, a Beit Shemesh-based organization helping young girls achieve their potential through education and sports, sent a team of 126 runners.
The Koby Mandell Foundation, which helps families that lost loved ones to terrorist attacks, had 60 runners.
