Clubs boycott Saucony Run Shoreditch 10km over event sponsor’s links to Israel
Waking Dreams ahead of their 10km in Victoria Park, Sunday 21 September. Photograph: Taylor Bush
Hackney running crews and wellness groups boycotted an inaugural road-closed 10km through Shoreditch yesterday over the event’s sponsor’s links to Israel.
Nine thousand runners signed up for the Run Shoreditch 10km, which starts in Shoreditch Park before passing through De Beauvoir, Newington Green and Hoxton Street Market before looping back to the finish.
But just days before the event was set to take place, several East London run clubs including Mafia Moves and clubakin released a community statement announcing a boycott.
The statement read: “We cannot allow the sport we love to be used to gloss over oppression”.
The boycott comes after it was revealed that the event’s sponsor, Saucony, is the official sponsor of the Jerusalem Marathon.
A statement published by Muslim Runners, which also joined the boycott, said: “Saucony is the official sponsor of the Jerusalem Marathon, a race that runs through illegally occupied Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, land recognised by the United Nations and international law as part of the occupied West Bank.”
The Jerusalem Marathon describes its route as “passing by fascinating historical sites that illuminate 3,000 years of the history of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.”
In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. It annexed East Jerusalem and declared all of Jerusalem its eternal capital.
A year later the UN Security Council passed a resolution stating that “all legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel … which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem, are invalid and cannot change that status”.
The Jerusalem Marathon passes through the Old City, East Talpiot and Mount Scopus, all of which are neighbourhoods in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Waking Dreams, a wellness centre with studios based in Bethnal Green and Broadway Market, also joined the boycott.
In a statement announcing their decision, it wrote: “Our decision comes in light of concerns around the event sponsor.
“We feel it’s important that our values as a community space stay aligned with compassion, solidarity, and care.”
“Waking Dreams staff had signed up to run the Shoreditch 10km to raise money for Hackney Night Shelter, a homeless charity based in Powerscroft Road.
“General manager Taylor Bush told the Citizen: “The shelter’s mission to create roots out of homelessness is beautiful.
“The occupation in Palestine is pushing people into homelessness and out of their communities. That is the opposite of everything they believe in.
“We wanted to figure out the best solution so our members knew their donations would still make it to the shelter.
“We decided to do our own run, to bring the community together for a good cause and rewrite the narrative of what was happening.
“About 15 of us joined together and ran 10km from our Bethnal Green studio to Victoria Park then had saunas and cold plunges.”
Waking Dreams met their target of £400 for Hackney Night Shelter.
This story was updated at 12:01pm on Tuesday 23 September 2025 to include a comment from Saucony:
A Saucony spokesperson told the Citizen that the company stepped back from their position as sponsor of the Jerusalem marathon last week.
They said: “At Saucony we believe running is a powerful force for connection. One that brings people together across backgrounds and beliefs.
“Our Run as One platform reflects this core belief that running is and always will be a unifying experience.
“Over the past few days, we’ve listened closely to concerns from the community about our sponsorship of the Jerusalem Marathon, and after thoughtful consideration we have made our decision to step back from our sponsorship position.
“Our priority is and will always be the running community. We remain committed to finding ways around the world to bring people together through running.”
This story was updated at 12:51pm on Tuesday 23 September 2025 to include a further comment from Saucony:
The spokesperson said the decision had been made before the run on Sunday and was communicated to “between 25 and 30” running groups in London.
I wonder whether Saucony’s “decision to step back from our sponsorship position [of the Jerusalem Marathon]” was put into effect before the Run Shoreditch event took place.
The wording of their statement is rather ambiguous, compared to what the reporter clearly took it to mean.
This story was updated at 12:51pm on Tuesday 23 September 2025 to include a further comment from Saucony:
The spokesperson said the decision had been made before the run on Sunday and was communicated to “between 25 and 30” running groups in London.
Yeah, because this “action” is really doing something to help the conflict in either side. “We’re not going to take part in your running event” – cool, just a bunch of less runners/walkers. Well done..
Sport should be free from politics.
How ridiculous and not in any way helpful for peace.
This article also fails to mention when Jerusalem was reunited after Jordan’s illegal annexation, destruction and expulsion of Jews in 1948 (note, this happened in the 6 day war in which Israel was not the aggressor). The old city inhabitants were then allowed to return and all faiths are actually allowed to visit.
To all the zionist commentators who are reluctant to understand whether this “action” makes a difference for “either side”. Let’s break it down, it’s not a conflict and it certainly isn’t an either side issue. There’s an active genocide going on which you are glossing over, where one side (Israel) is bombing children to smithereens like they’re playing a video game.
Yes boycotts work, when governments fail to act. It lets the people know that we won’t stand for mass murder and ethnic cleansing of a people. No, this is not political and for those who think sports should stay out of it, it’s called empathy for human suffering. Something far bigger than politics and sports is happening right infront of out eyes and every action, small or big counts to turning the tide of public opinion and eventually the government will implement meaningful change. South African apartheid didn’t happen overnight, it was grassroot movements like this that helped.
I hope the rest of you can live with yourselves with your apathy, lack of empathy and general nonchalant attitude where you think its “happening over there”, and it doesnt affect us attitude. Your ‘geographical luck’ is the only thing preventing this from being you and your children who are suffering, nothing else. These are human beings, most of whom are women and children, who are being targeted with sniper shots to the head. Your silence is complicity to genocide, enjoy having this conversation with your grandchildren when they ask you how did you let this happen and if you continue to remain silent in yhr face of oppressionand tyranny it wont be long before you are having to deal with it on your doorstep!
Pathetic. Also, there is no genocide. It’s a war that Israel didn’t start. Ham @ss and it’s blood thirsty followers are to blame. If you poke the bear don’t cry when it bites you.
What is happening in Gaza is awful, but why only mention one side when women and children were killed on the other side. Not forgetting the execution of their own people recently. It’s a complex problem but be honest it is political in this country otherwise where has been the outpouring about all the conflicts elsewhere in the world. Sad that Saucony has given in to these bullies – sport is about bringing together for good and should not be a political football.
The simple fact is one side believes they are superiors and others. They believe they have a right to take over somebody else’s land and expel them and live there. The land belongs to the Palestinians. What gives the Jews the right to go over there and occupy the land. These Jews state that they lived there 3000 years ago. But why do the Jews only go back 3000 years. Who lived on that land before 3000 years? The canonites. The Descendants of the canonites are the present day Lebanese. So why don’t the Jews also get out and make way for the Lebanese?
Signs of decline and collapse in Western civilisation. Boycott a functioning and productive liberal democracy with the highest equal rights in the region; support a proscribed Islamofascist misogynistic homophobic terror state that hates your values instead. The West commits suicide.
As of midday, 25th September 2025, Saucony is still listed as one of the lead sponsors on the Jerusalem Marathon landing page of the official website.
Sport and politics can never be separated. Those who say that the two should not be mixed are just trying to silence others. When sports are used by politicians to whitewash wrongdoing, then people should be able to voice their opposition. And yes, boycotting is, indeed, an effective method to demonstrate opposition.
To Kam East and others – ignorance must be bliss; the Jews have lived in and built Jerusalem 3000 years ago – (Kings David and Solomon , remember??) – and have lived since the 12 tribes, around 4500 year in total, without a break, in modern Israel; the Jews are thus the only recognizable indigenous people of the area now called Israel once again, and have always been such. Thus Zionism is the greatest and longest lasting National Liberation movement in history – we have waited 2000 years, when Zionism was founded after the Roman occupation .
So you woke, wishy-washy Greens and Communist supporters of Liberation movements need to understand that it is the Jews who have been oppressed and occupied, and the Arabs/Palestinians are the villainous Occupiers!
The Palestinians are named after a false labelling by the Imperialist European Roman Ocupiers of Israel – Filistinia – in the 1st century AD (ie the worst biblical enemies of the Jews, the Philistines) and this word became ‘Palestine” in English or ‘Falastin ‘in Arabic. But the Arabs did not invade till after 3000 years of inhabitation of the Land by the Jews (in the 8th century AD, the Islamic, Imperialist Occupation, Settlers, Land Grab as they burst out of Arabia with their supercessionist religion of Islam ).
Thus the Arab Palestinians are settlers, imperialists and colonial occupiers of the Jewish homeland ever since the 8th century Arab land grab. Get your history right – we Jews are back and here to stay in the Land of Israel, named for the patriarch Jacob since 2500 BCE (Jacob’s name became Israel in the story written 2500 years ago and orally transmitted for over 4000 years).
KEEP in mind – my Jewish people were old, had the great Temple in Jerusalem , a standing army, fishing fleet, prophets, kings, judges and scholars, and midwife to Jesus the Jew. of Christianity and western civilisation – when LONDON WAS A SWAMP.
Congratulations. The Manchester anti-Semitic attack means the Labour Government and Mayor of London now officially has the blood of British Jews not to mention just Israeli Jews , on its hands. This will be their abiding legacy in the minds of the vast majority of British, and world, Jewry. Locally the same result has been achieved with Hackney Council , among others, agreeing to go ahead with divestment from Israel, even though it is both illegal and financially harmful, to do so.
Appeasement, encouragement, collaboration with and rewarding of antisemitism in both foreign and domestic policy, has reached levels that are beyond words and have contributed to todays murderous rampage in the Yom Kippor Manchester murders of Jews. Labour has green-lighted antisemitic incitement at every level, despite many warnings in the past 2 years and more from Jews and non-Jews across the political spectrum. It has directly and indirectly affected my own family : from myself , who was punched in the face by a Palestinian supporter who was camped outside the Town Hall in Mare Street last May when I tore down an anti-Israel poster (after a trial and an appeal against his guilty verdict ,he was given 100 hours community service), to my 11 year old grandson who has been bullied and abused at school , and my 13 year old grand- daughter who has been subjected to politicised behaviour at school both from teachers and pupils. I now encourage my grand-children to leave this country in future as I can see no good future for proud Jews here.
I was disgusted to read Keir Starmer’s statement for Rosh Hashanah in the Jewish Chronicle. Does Keir truly believe that he stands shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community? I cannot comprehend how he can believe this to be true when he has stabbed us in the back, rewarding genocidal antisemites in Gaza and by Gazans, with state recognition(in the name of hope???!) and permitted in the UK ongoing racist hate marches, hate conferences, hate charities, hate musical events, hate organisations (in the name of freedom of speech), especially in our universities where Jewish students are being driven away and persecuted . Our streets are littered with racist antisemitic incitement in the form of graffiti, stickers and hate flags. And Councils and other authorties do little or nothing to stop this! Meanwhile, to call our social media a gutter of antisemitic filth ,would be to insult gutters.
Labour has legitimised the demonisation and delegitimisation of both the only Jewish state (not to mention the only middle-eastern democracy) and
the Jewish community, British and global, and so we are now reaping “the fruits” of those efforts in Manchster – just for starters. In addition, Labour have held the Jewish homeland to standards of
which Britain falls far short in both the past and present.
The only consolation I can take from any of this is that Keir is not as bad as Corbyn would have been. Poor consolation that will be for the families grieving in Manchester, but perhaps a fitting epitaph will be – “At least I was not Corbyn”
Martin Sugarman (Chair Hackney-Haifa Twinning and Local Jewish War Veterans)
Its amazing how many ignorant bigots there are who think they are fighting oppression while enacting racist oppression in the form of boycotts. Disgusting.