Cousins At The Marathon

We pushed ourselves further this year. Instead of stopping at the end of the road to see the full marathon runners and the half marathon runners, we walked up to the top to catch the 10k runners. Well we had an ulterior motive. My nephew was running the 10k. We saw him and got this lovely photo before he ran on into the horizon. Off again with the crowd.

He didn't wear the kilt, in case you were wondering.

So we passed the bouncy castles and other activities for the kids at the end of our road and we turned up towards the old city. There was something extra magical about seeing all the runners descending from the ancient city of Jerusalem. Like it was the original marathon run from ancient times or something. The photo looks a bit cartoony as it's cropped from a much wider vista.

We saw lots of runners we knew including many we didn't know were running. One of my heads of department from college suddenly called my name as she jogged passed. Friends older and younger. Past pupils and parents. And finally the head of English at the school I teach in walked passed us heading in the opposite direction. "What are you dong?" I asked. "Where are you going?"

She had arrived at the central bus station from staying out of town over night with her married daughter and had to walk home - a three hour walk and probably a good 10k - because there were no buses. Actually there were some buses but they were being used to block the side roads.

DD liked seeing the police horses best.

And when I got home I saw hundreds of photos all over facebook of people running the 10k right past where we were standing and I'd missed them all. How could that have happened? I guess with 30,000 runners you can't see everyone. Although they were spread over five different races and only the big three ran past where we were standing.

Kol Hakavod to everyone who ran today. It was a great morning to run and to watch.

The Usual Springtime Events - R2BC

This week sees three of our regular springtime events. Three very good Reasons 2B Cheerful. I'm linking up with Mich on Mummy from the Heart where you can find more R2BCs.

1
Unicorn 
After 6 years of refusing to dress up for Purim, DD suddenly decided that she wanted to be a unicorn this year. I was delighted. I took her down to the toy shop and said she could choose whatever she wanted from the costumes and accessories, Here the toy shops stock up on costumes espeially for Purim, like in America before Hallowe'en. With only one child I was willing to pay for whatever she wanted. There was no unicorn and she didn't want anything else so she came home and made her own costume. It was only a head-dress worn with her normal  clothes but this was a huge step forward for us.

2
The Yedidya Bazaar
The Yedidya Bazaar is next Sunday and Monday. I have a top cupboard where I save things for the bazaar. The first item went into it about one week after last year's bazaar. Don't you hate it when that happens? Anyway, the cupboard was full and I pulled everything out last weekend. The picture shows my hoard before I've even finished. There are a few games and toys I didn't put on the bed because I know that DD won't let them go if she sees them. We also went through DD's clothes and thinned them out. Remember that we took a whole load of games and books to her school market only a few weeks ago.

In the end we have 10 bags of stuff for the Bazaar, 3 bags to return to a friend, 2 bags of outgrown clothes for my downstairs neighbour (aged 4), and a couple of items that DD's very slim friend might like. Result! (Although where we get it all from every year still baffles me.)

3
Jerualem Marathon
Tomorrow we are bunking school (along with 90% of the pupils) to go and cheer on my nephew in the Jerusalem Marathon, He's running the 10k and the route goes relatively near where we live. Not as near as the full and the half marathon routes which we usually go to watch but near enough to walk to. We'll also see the full and half marathon runners but we won't be standing at the end of the road with our neighbours like last year.

He is threatening to run in his kilt (more of a tartan skirt than a kilt) which he wore for his Purim costume. Well at least we won't miss him if he does.

Marathon Day 2016

Many of the schools were closed in our neighbourhood as the marathon runs through it. DD's school was open and she wanted to go as it was going to be a fun day - obviously as they knew that only 30/300 children would attend. It's the same every year. I think if the Ministry of Education doesn't declare it an official holiday (like they do on snow days) then they have to give back a day if they close.

So we slept in for a bit and I dropped DD off at school half an hour late. The whole school was in one classroom doing various arts and crafts. Later they had some sports activities and watched a movie. I went shopping and picked DD and her friend up 20 minutes early at 11.25. (Yes Friday school is only till 11.45 - we call it stupid Friday.)

We went to see the tail end of the marathon from the bottom of our street. It was an amazing event with a full marathon, a half marathon route, a 10k, a 5k, a family run, and a communities run, and some people even biked the route after the runners had finished with it. Thousands took part. The weather behaved beautifully.

You can see an overview of marathon moments published by the Jerusalem municipality. The runners are impressive but I like looking at the views of Jerusalem best.

מרתון ווינר ירושלים 2016
הכי יפה לכם ספורטיבי!שבת שלום ירושלים ❤
Posted by ‎Jerusalem Municipality | עיריית ירושלים‎ on Friday, 18 March 2016

We got in one kif (high five), bought ice lollies, danced to the music and found all sorts of activities for the kids. We met up with another of DD's friends and the three girls came to us for lunch. I would have liked to see more of the runners but apart from that it ended up being a perfect day.

The last few stragglers

And there they go.

The bubbles were fun