Fourth national title for Ariel!

See Ariel Rosenfeld’s GVA profile

Following a loop course, this is a leading ultramarathon in Israel, organised by Spartanion.. Ariel is pictured wearing the blue jacket.

“I came very well prepared” Ariel told Great Vegan Athletes. “I ran 702km in the last 21 days of the peak training period, including some challenging weekends.”

Ariel wanted to beat his personal best at the event, which was 227km. The weather shared a different plan. There were tricky weather conditions at the first eight hours, including direct sun and head wind at one side of the course.

“I was more careful and conservative.”

“At the first third of the race I was ranked #7 overall. I gradually kept a steady pace and effort and climbed to the first place, mainly during the night.”

Ariel completed 206 km, winning by 8km.

Ariel turned vegetarian in 2011 for a year, then went vegan. Since then he’s set a national ultramarathon record and won the top Israeli ultra four times. He’s competed internationally and finished the 246 km Spartathlon three times.

“I’ve shifted to vegan diet, in order to stop contributing to killing and using animals” he says. “I didn’t expect to become a better athlete. It was a great bonus and surprise for me, and my running career skyrocketed since then!”

We can expect more from Ariel, but at the moment he is recovering from his success.

“Overall I am very happy, both from the training period and from my performance at race day.”