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.
