Once a year in the spring, local residents from Bethlehem area, Palestinians from near and far, and people from all over the world gather in Bethlehem to participate in one of the highlights of the city’s social and cultural calendar. They put on their running shoes, put on sunscreen and a hat, and flock to the alleys and streets of the ancient town south of Jerusalem, either to engage in physical exercise or to cheer on their friends and relations, some of whom will have trained for months in the hope of winning a prize or an honorable mention.