Tiberias Marathon
The Tiberias Marathon is an annual marathon road race held along the Sea of Galilee in Israel, with a field in recent years of approximately 1,000 competitors.[1] The competition was first held in 1977, and also hosts the annual Israeli marathon national championship. It was Israel's first international marathon event.[2]
| Tiberias Marathon | |
|---|---|
| Date | early January |
| Location | Sea of Galilee, Israel |
| Event type | Road running |
| Distance | 42.195 km |
| Primary sponsor | Toto Winner |
| Established | 1977 |
| Course records | Men: 2:07:30 (2012) Women: 2:25:45 (2017) |
| Official site | Tiberias Marathon |
| Participants | 1,053 finishers (2021) 1,670 (2020) 1,108 (2019) |
The course follows an out-and-back format around the southern tip of the sea, and was run concurrently with a 10k race along an abbreviated version of the same route. In 2010 the 10k race was moved from the afternoon to before the marathon. A 21.1 km race was added in 2018. At approximately 200 meters below sea level, this is the lowest course in the world.
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 | 2:19:33 | 3:02:58 | ||
| 2nd | 1978 | 2:14:02 | 3:08:18 | ||
| 3rd | 1979 | 2:18:31 | 3:16:06 | ||
| 4th | 1981 (Jan) | 2:16:19 | 2:52:45 | ||
| 5th | 1981 (Dec) | 2:17:11 | 2:46:37 | ||
| 6th | 1982 | 2:16:39 | 2:46:15 | ||
| 7th | 1983 | 2:20:00 | 2:41:58 | ||
| 8th | 1984 | 2:16:28 | 3:05:19 | ||
| 9th | 1985 | 2:15:39 | 2:42:54 | ||
| 10th | 1986 | 2:23:12 | 2:36:33 | ||
| 11th | 1987 | 2:16:06 | 2:42:15 | ||
| 12th | 1988 | 2:18:08 | 2:40:01 | ||
| 13th | 1989 | 2:15:23 | 2:40:39 | ||
| 14th | 1990 | 2:18:55 | 3:00:32 | ||
| — | 1991 | Not held | |||
| 15th | 1992 | 2:17:07 | 2:34:17 | ||
| 16th | 1993 | 2:17:30 | 2:39:11 | ||
| 17th | 1994 | 2:14:52 | 2:51:36 | ||
| 18th | 1995 | 2:15:10 | 2:56:38 | ||
| 19th | 1996 | 2:19:30 | 2:57:19 | ||
| 20th | 1997 | 2:16:41 | 2:52:48 | ||
| 21st | 1998 | 2:12:51 | 2:41:21 | ||
| 22nd | 1999 | 2:17:38 | 2:48:39 | ||
| 23rd | 2000 | 2:19:45 | 2:42:06 | ||
| 24th | 2001 | 2:17:06 | 2:44:57 | ||
| 25th | 2002 | 2:16:13 | 2:36:40 | ||
| 26th | 2003 | 2:12:45 | 2:51:06 | ||
| 27th | 2004 | 2:15:39 | 2:38:42 | ||
| 28th | 2005 | 2:18:08 | 2:44:50 | ||
| 29th | 2006 | 2:15:43 | 2:54:49 | ||
| 30th | 2007 | 2:13:13 | 2:39:25 | ||
| 31st | 2008 | 2:10:32 | 2:39:15 | ||
| 32nd | 2009 | 2:08:07 | 2:39:07 | ||
| 33rd | 2010 | 2:11:09.5 | 2:36:40.3 | ||
| 34th | 2011 | 2:10:02 | 2:44:31 | ||
| 35th | 2012 | 2:07:30 | 2:40:08 | ||
| 36th | 2013 | 2:08:00 | 2:40:22 | ||
| 37th | 2014 | 2:10:32 | 2:34:41 | ||
| 38th | 2015 | 2:12:32 | 2:54:02 | ||
| 39th | 2016 | 2:15:31 | 2:51:16 | ||
| 40th | 2017 | 2:16:39 | 2:25:45 | ||
| 41st | 2018 | 2:15:31 | 2:40:37 | ||
| 42nd | 2019 | 2:15:16 | 2:42:18 | ||
| 43rd | 2020 | 2:14:56 | 2:32:25 | ||
| 44th | 2021 | 2:17:08 | 2:41:12 | ||
Wins by country

| Country | Men's race | Women's race | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 19 | 25 | |
| 16 | 7 | 23 | |
| 8 | 4 | 12 | |
| 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 |
See also
References
- Jacobs, Megan (10 January 2008). "Track & Field: Muturi returns to defend Tiberias title". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
- This Week in NYRR History. New York Road Runners. Retrieved on 2011-01-14.
- 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. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- 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
- Eiger, David & Civai, Franco (2011-01-09). Tiberias Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-01-15.
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiberias Marathon. |
- In Ancient Footsteps, an overview by Prof. Uri Goldbourt
- New Official Site