Elena Dolinin sets new Israeli marathon record at first attempt

In her first ever attempt over the distance, Elena Dolinin set a new Israeli record of 2:35:59 to place seventh in Sunday's Berlin Marathon. Her performance was a 37 second improvement on the previous record, set by Nili Abramski in 2004. She ran the second half more than a minute faster than the first half.

Dolinin, 38, had been a middle-distance runner in her youth in Russia, and emigrated to Israel in 1999. However, she had not run for 20 years before taking up the sport again two years ago.

“I increased my speed throughout,” she said, “but I held back a bit because I was scared I would hit the wall. I never thought I would run that fast.”