This race takes participates on a symbolic journey through Israel, from Eilat to Tel Aviv. Be sure to check the signs at the start, at each mile point, and at the finish! You’ll start on Central Park’s East Drive, just south of 68th Street, and head north. In the first mile, watch out for Cat Hill—and its namesake, the Still Hunt statue of a crouching panther, which will look down on you from a rock wall to your left. A friendlier statue will greet you a few hundred meters beyond the one-mile point, along the race’s longest flat section: Fred Lebow, legendary founder of the New York City Marathon, is memorialized in bronze, checking his stopwatch, near East 90th Street.
 
You’ll continue north on East Drive and enjoy a slight downhill at about 1.5 miles, then another flat section as you approach the 102nd Street Transverse. You’ll turn left onto the Transverse and pass the two-mile point—you’re halfway home! At the western end of the Transverse, you’ll turn left again, heading south on West Drive. You’ll hit a challenging series of three rolling hills between the Transverse and the southwestern edge of the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir and shortly before the three-mile mark. With a mile to go, you can enjoy a welcome downhill for the better part of half a mile, followed by a few hundred meters of running on the flats and a final left turn onto the 72nd Street Transverse. At this point you’ll see the finish and hear the cheering crowds. Don’t forget to look up and smile as you cross the finish line, on the Transverse overlooking Bethesda Terrace.