Hundreds of lecturers, students and employees from the Technion and other academic institutions participated in the First Technion Challenge race, held today (Wednesday). The five-kilometer race was held on the Technion campus as part of the Academic Sports Association field race league activities. \u201cIn this race there are no losers, only winners,\u201d said Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie a few seconds before he signaled the start of the race. \u201cA few of you will be more victorious than others today, but no one will be a loser.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud of the Technion\u2019s students,\u201d said Technion Student Association Chairman Danny Magner. \u201cThe Technion is No.1 not only in academics but also in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Technion\u2019s hilly terrain made for a particularly challenging route. \u201cIt was a difficult route, with a lot of ups and downs, and I am happy that I managed to achieve a time of less than 20 minutes,\u201d said Helen Wolfson, who won first place in the women students division and second place in the overall women\u2019s division. Helen, a master\u2019s degree student in the Faculty of Bio-Medical Engineering, trains the Technion\u2019s staff team in her spare time. \u201cCombining running and studying has always been a challenge for me, and I have to run even on days with the most lectures,\u201d said Helen. She praised the race\u2019s organizers for the race\u2019s high level of organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the toughest and most challenging route of all the races in the student\u2019s league,\u201d said Kim Darmon, a fifth-year student in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, who came in third overall in the women\u2019s division. \u201cI have been running since age 12, and this race was difficult and challenging, as befits the Technion.\u201d<\/p>\n
First place among the senior lecturers was won by Dr. Ari Gero of the Department of Science and Technology Education, who recorded a time of21:58 minutes and came in 50th overall. He has been training for years, ever since he was a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Physics. His training buddy, Assistant Prof. Netanel Lindner of the Faculty of Physics came in second.<\/p>\n
Prof. Alon Hoffman, dean of the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, took third place among the senior lecturers. \u201cI am on the Technion\u2019s running team and participate in the 220-kilometer Mountain-to-Valley Ultra-Man Marathon every year, so today\u2019s race wasn\u2019t particularly difficult for me, despite the hilly route.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistant Prof. Alex Szpilman, also from the Faculty of Chemistry, admits that \u201cthere were some tough sections, but we know that whatever is not difficult \u2013 is not interesting. After all, we are experienced at coping with scientific challenges, and it\u2019s good that we now also have an athletic challenge like this.\u201d He will also soon be participating in the Mountain-to-Valley race in one of the three teams of chemistry professionals that the Israel Chemical Society is sending to the race.<\/p>\n
The winner of the race is Or Shilon of ASA Tel Aviv, who crossed the finish line in just 17:19 minutes. The women students trophy was won by Irena Konovalov, of Wingate College, who recorded a time of 19:34 minutes. Barak Zinger, a student in the Technion\u2019s Faculty of Computer Science, was the fastest Technion student, with a time of 17:52 minutes, and came in fourth overall.<\/p>\n
The race was organized jointly by the Technion\u2019s administration, Technion Student Association, the dean of students, the sports department \u2013 ASA Technion Academic Sports Association and the Technion Sports Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe race is being held for the first time at the Technion,\u201d said Technion COO Zehava Laniado, \u201cand we hope that it will become a tradition. This is an event for everyone and its goal is to bring the various groups at the Technion closer to one another and promote athletic activities on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Photos click here<\/p>\n
Photo captions<\/p>\n
7899 + 7903 \u2013 Runners on the starting line.<\/p>\n
7934 \u2013 Student Helen Wolfson<\/p>\n
7938 \u2013 Technion President Prof. Peretz Lavie and Student Association chairman start the race.<\/p>\n
7982 + 8013 + 7975 \u2013 Runners during the race<\/p>\n
7860 \u2013 Winners in the women\u2019s division. (Right to left: Helen Wolfson, Irena Konovalov, Kim Darmon)<\/p>\n
7882 \u2013 Winners in the men\u2019s division. (Right to left: Steven Taylor, Or Shilon, Moshiko Yesharim)<\/p>\n
8026 \u2013 Winning staff members: (Right to left: Assistant Prof. Netanel Lindner, Dr. Ari Gero, Prof. Alon Hoffman)<\/p>\n
5458 \u2013 Aerial view of the starting line<\/p>\n
7747 \u2013 Student Zafrir Ozer, who ran the race with his dog Lego.<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: Spokesperson\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"