Ashkelon 2025

I ran (fine, I didn’t actually run, but I did power walk!) the Jerusalem 10k with Team Yachad. I’ve never done a marathon before and I wasn’t doing it to get the best time or for a trophy. I did it for the members of Yachad. The race started at exactly 10:15am. The weather was pretty gloomy but yet all runners ran with as much energy as they would have if there had been sun.   10:15am the announcer says ready set go!

Almost at the finish line, I met Melissa- a girl studying in seminary for the year.  She has special needs. Many students with special needs also did the 10k, not once complaining of the cold , hail  and rain. We were about 20 minutes from the finish line and Melissa almost began to cry.  “I can’t ! I can’t! My legs hurt!”  I told her “No! Yes you can, You made it his far and you’re going to cross that finish line!”  I held her and she squeezed my hand. I told her not don’t cry, believe in yourself, you made it his far and you can do it!! And she did. The smile on her face , knowing that she accomplished the race was priceless.

So yes, I crossed the finish line at   01:59:04, but that’s ok because I still got a medal! OK, everyone gets a medal but still it’s super cool!