Marathon Samsung is the largest international sports event in Israel and will be held this year for the eleventh time in the heart of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
The slogan for the event this year is "BE YOUR BEST" and invites all runners both amateur and professional, to do the best they can and join the over 100,000 people who are expected to take part in the event.
WHEN: 22.2.2019
The Samsung Marathon, which is being held at the initiative of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality and the production of the Kapaim company, will take place on Friday, 22.2.2019, with about 40,000 runners who will be taking part in one of six gorgeous urban routes: the Marathon (42.195 km), the Half Marathon (21 km), a 10 km route, a 5 km route, a handicap bike route and the mini marathon route for children to be held on 20.2.2019 (500 meters and 1 km).
Israel is keeping fit! According to a survey conducted for the Samsung Marathon in Tel Aviv, about 81.2% of men and 77% of women in Israel are involved in physical activity.
The survey was conducted by the Geocartography Research Institute within the framework of a national sample survey of 500 respondents aged 18 and over.
The survey data showed that close to 80% of Israelis are involved in physical activity and that 60% allocate up to 5 hours per week. The proportion of those participating in physical activity among those with a low level of education is about 10% lower than those with an academic education.
33% of respondents run for sports. The largest segment of runners is between the ages 18-34 - close to 42% compared to only 13% over the age of 55.
53% of the runners said that they run alone, 26% prefer to run with a friend or relative and only 3% run with a fitness trainer.
With respect to their site of preference: about 70% of the runners prefer to run outdoors in a park or on the beach and about 12% prefer to run on a track at home or in the gym.
About 51% of the residents of Gush Dan noted that the city in which they live encourages physical activity, compared with a national average of nearly 44% of the participants who stated that the city in which they live encourages physical activity.
Last, but not least, the percentage of women is on the rise. In 2011, the percentage of men registering for the marathon was 73%, and women constituted only 27% of the total number of applicants. In 2019, 59% of the applicants are men, and 41% are women.
Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa stated that the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Marathon, has become a global event, attracting tourists from all over the world, and a great celebration, not only for athletes, but for all the city's residents and visitors. It encourages physical activity as part of a healthy urban lifestyle. He also wished success and enjoyment to all the participants and invited all the residents of the city to take part in the event.
SAMSUNG Israel announced that the "Samsung Marathon of Tel Aviv 2019" will be dedicated this year to donating food to needy families. The contribution will be made by converting the calories burned by the runners during the marathon to food products, and will therefore be called the "calorie marathon" race. The number of calories burned by every participant will be counted and collected, and in the end, the total calories burned by all runners will be exchanged by Samsung for food products. For example, if 500,000 calories are burned, these will be converted into thousands of food products that together contain 500,000 calories. The food products will be packaged in special boxes and donated to needy families just before Passover. More participants = more calories = more packages. The contribution will be made LIVE, so that the runners will see the contribution taking place before their eyes from the moment the Marathon kit is received to the finish line.
Ronen Salem, VP Marketing, Samsung Israel stated that for the past 6 years, Samsung has found the Tel Aviv Marathon, the largest sports event in the country to be a wonderful opportunity for harnessing tens of thousands of people for a worthy cause. This year, it was decided utilize the event to make sure that as many families as possible are able to celebrate Passover in a dignified manner, with sufficient food on the table.
Nike unveiled the Samsung Marathon T-shirts in Tel-Aviv during the press conference. This is the first year in which Nike is the official sports partner of the largest running event in Israel. For the first time there will be two official marathon shirts. The marathon runners who will be going the full distance of 42.2 km will receive a black T-shirt displaying the running distance and will be distinguishable from the rest of the runners who will be participating in one of the other shorter tracks and will receive T-shirts in a shade called "sunset glow".
Shachar Hirsh, CEO of Nike Israel stated that Nike's role as the world's largest sports company is to inspire athletes of all levels and to encourage other runners to dream about the next big accomplishment. Thus, Nike provides runners with the world's most advanced products. The Samsung Marathon Tel-Aviv shirt is based on the most advanced technologies and materials. It is the official Nike T-shirt in world-wide racing, a shirt developed to give athletes the optimal conditions to achieve great achievements.
This year, the Samsung Marathon will continue to embrace dozens of associations and to support social involvement and contribution to the community, with a social track that will enable the participating runners to take advantage of the race to raise funds for various associations.
According to data from the Kapaim company, over 25,000 participants have already secured their place. It is expected that most of the participants will complete registration before January 24th, when the discounted registration ends.
As a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), the Samsung Marathon Tel-Aviv attracts elite runners from around the world who come especially to Israel in order to compete in the race. This year, about 2,500 runners from around the world, including elite runners, will try to break the two-hour, 10-minute and 30-second marathon records. The current record was set by runner Williams Kiprono Yagon from Kenya in 2015. A record breaker that sets a score of 2:07:59 or less will win a prize of $40,000.
For more information on the starting point, kit distribution and some of the event highlights, refer to the complete article on:
https://www.israel-best-trips.com/single-post/Tel-Aviv-Jaffa-A-Preview-on-Marathon-Samsung-2019
https://www.tlvmarathon.co.il/
Photos by Silvia Golan
Photo of the Tel Aviv Marathon 2018 Amit Shisel Ronen Topelberg Studio Kapaim
