Back on his feet
An Australian ultra-marathon runner who was attempting to complete the 1000km Israel Trail is back in action after a foot infection forced him off the course for a week.
Richard Bowles
Richard Bowles was up and running again last Sunday and hopes to complete the course by the end of this week, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Melbourne-based runner began the trail on April 17 in Eilat but after nine days of running he was forced into a clinic near Petah Tikva with a foot infection.
During Bowles’ time in recovery Tourism Minister Uzi Landau met with him, presenting him with a certificate of goodwill in tourism.
“I hope that the temporary pause that was forced on you will enable you to get to know an important and beautiful part of Israel – not only its beautiful landscape but also the warm people within it,” Landau told Bowles. “It is an honour for us that you specifically chose the Israel Trail as a destination for your run.”
Last year, he became the first person to run the world’s largest marked trail, a 5330-kilometer route on
Australia’s Bicentennial National Trail, a journey he completed in five-and-a-half months.
Vicki Saunders had been accompanying Bowles but time constraints see her now back in Melbourne. She told J-Wire: “During 17 – 26th April – Rich ran 620km of the trail, stopping just short of Tel Aviv when he finally succumbed to a foot infection that had landed him in the emergency ward in Jerusalem.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel is a partner in his run.
