Urban shadows

Ein Gedi Half

This past Saturday I ran my first 1/2 marathon. The race was located at Ein Gedi-- a small oasis in the Judean Desert, on the western bank of the Dead Sea. It's the lowest elevation on Earth, which made for a hot sunny run.

I regretted committing to the race until the second we started, and then again in the last 7 km of the race. However, I felt great post-race and I'm glad I went through with it. There were about 600 participants in the 1/2 marathon, and I came in about the middle of the pack. The winner of the race, an Ethiopian, ran a 1:04; the first place female runner about a 1:12. I ran a 1:50. Not stellar, but nothing to cry about.

Unfortunately, I pulled a tendon in my ankle and recovery may require an extended vacation from running and losing the base I've worked hard to establish. I'm hoping a few Ibuprofens and a heat pack will do the trick.

Here are a few pictures from the race.

Pre-race recharging session.

Waiting for things to get going.

With my training buddies.

Starting line.

Helicopter raising a dust storm on the runners while recording the race.

The elderly gentleman behind me in this photo
suggests that I was poking along, but he was pretty fast!

A minor case of the shakes

Reading in my office this afternoon, I experienced my first earthquake. At first I thought it was a dizzy spell, but the ripples in my bottle of Neviot verified that the shaking sensation was not an inner ear-related issue. Measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, the epicenter of the quake was near Tyre, Lebanon.

Israel is situated on the Dead Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley-- also known as the Syrian-African rift. This is the largest fissure in the Earth's surface, spanning approximately 3500 miles from Syria to Mozambique. (Ironically, this week my Global History class studied African geography and the Great Rift Valley's role as a natural interior passageway for early migrating groups.)

Media reports have been speculating about a potential large-scale earthquake in Israel; the minor tremor today serves to assuage those fears a bit, as small expulsions of tectonic pressure reduce the probability of a significant build-up resulting in a destructive quake.

Recently in Jerusalem

Museum on the Seam: socio-political contemporary art museum
lying on the border of East and West Jerusalem.

Mea She'arim.

Public protest calling for Olmert's resignation
because of his failure to deliver security in Sderot.

Cars halting all highway traffic into Jerusalem.

A mostly right-wing protest.

Memorial at the site of a bus bombing on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem:

In the face of brazenness, fear will not prevail
In good and in bad we are all united.

May God revenge their blood.
(translation by A. Eliach)