Meet Beatie Deutsch, the Ultra-Orthodox Runner Setting Records and Shattering Expectations

Meet Beatie Deutsch, the Ultra-Orthodox Runner Setting Records and Shattering Expectations ^ | January 24, 2019 | Hailey Middlebrook

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Halfway through the Tiberias Marathon in Tiberias, Israel, on January 4, Bracha “Beatie” Deutsch thought victory was in the bag. But then she saw another female runner, Israeli marathon record holder Elena Dolinin, far up ahead, and her heart sank.

“She is a 2:35 marathoner, and I didn’t think she would slow down,” Deutsch told Runner’s World. “I was disappointed, because my family was all there watching.”

Cheering on the sidelines were the 29-year-old’s husband and their five children. If being a mother didn’t make the runner stand out from the rest of the elite field, her running attire—a long-sleeved top, head scarf, and skirt that hits below the knee—certainly did. She practices ultra-orthodox Judaism, in which modest dress is required, she said.

If her running outfits turn any heads, though, she doesn’t notice—she’s too focused on her race to care.

Deutsch passed through the half marathon mark around 1:24, running a pace that felt fluid and easy. A few weeks prior, she’d won Israel’s half marathon national championships in 1:19, and she knew she had more left in the tank. But it was her faith that drove her to turn up her turnover and reel in Dolinin.

“I said to myself, ‘If God is with me every step of the way, then anything is possible,’” she said. “The race wasn’t over until I crossed the finish line.”

Deutsch picked up the pace, dropping the third place female and picking off men in front of her. A few miles later, someone from the crowd shouted that the leader wasn’t too far ahead. . . .

[I-ambush]

Beatie Deutsch, Beatie Deutsch, Beatie Deutsch

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

AMEN!