Team Shalva surrounded by community support

A 50-strong team of Israeli runners completed the Sydney Marathon on Sunday, raising funds and awareness for Shalva, the Israeli organisation that has supported people with disabilities and their families for more than 30 years.

Team Shalva joined more than 40,000 participants on the 42.2-kilometre course from North Sydney to the Sydney Opera House, with every member of the delegation finishing the race.

Shalva delegation leader Itamar Shevach told The AJN the team’s purpose was clear from the outset.

“The reason we are doing it, it’s for supporting people with disabilities and their families, and we do that not only in Sydney, we do it all over the world, and it’s a big mission,” Shevach said.

In the lead-up to the marathon, claims circulated on social media about the military backgrounds of some delegation members. Small groups of protesters gathered at points along the route on race day but the race proceeded without disruption.

Shevach said the team refused to be deterred.

“Instead of being afraid or being terrified of the lies that they spread and the nonsense that they said, we decided that no matter what we [are] here for a reason, and for that reason we will do the marathon as we planned. That gave us actually more strength,” Shevach said.

“You can feel that they were full of hate. They were screaming in their microphones bad words. They were screaming things at a place that people came to run, at a place that people came to do good. They were trying to distract everyone from that. They weren’t successful.” 

Shevach said the warmth far outweighed any hostility they experienced along the course. Supporters lined the route with Israeli and Shalva flags, balloons and cheers.

“The support we received along the track was unbelievable, amazing,” Shevach said. “Every time we saw someone that is supporting us … it gave us a lot of hope.”

“We were just looking for these points of light and points of hope, and it was amazing.”

It was the delegation’s second visit to Sydney. This year the team began by visiting Bondi, gathering at the site of last year’s terror attack, where they met local community member Elon Zizer.

The Sydney Jewish community rallied around Team Shalva throughout the visit.

On Friday, community members joined the runners for a five-kilometre training run through the CBD, hosted by UIA NSW Young Leadership and Gesher by UIA together with Zionist Council NSW.

UIA NSW head of engagement Bec Abraham said the partnership was a living expression of the Jewish principle of “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh”, that all Jews are responsible for one another, and that running with Shalva is a way to celebrate “their resilience and showing that we are with them every step of the way”.

“After two years and after what we went through and the community here went through, we feel we share also the same feelings and we become a family,” Shevach said.