Off-road triathlon is coming back to Israel. After what ONE describes as a long period of anticipation, three northern local authorities have unveiled plans for a new cross-country race that will bring swimming, mountain biking and trail running back to the Gilboa foothills for the first time in years.
The event, provisionally dubbed the Emek Triathlon, is a joint venture between the Afula municipality, the Gilboa Regional Council and the Emek HaMaayanot (Valley of Springs) Regional Council, according to the ONE report. It is scheduled for early March 2027, though an exact date has not yet been published.
The headline race is a point-to-point course designed to test athletes across genuinely varied terrain rather than the closed loops typical of most Israeli triathlons. Competitors will swim 1.5 kilometres in a stream in Emek HaMaayanot, then mount their bikes for a 22-kilometre ride along the northern slopes of Gilboa, before finishing with a 10-kilometre trail run through Jezreel Valley farmland that ends in Afula's municipal park.
Organisers also plan sprint, super-sprint and beginner categories alongside the main race, aiming to open the event to newcomers and younger athletes as well as competitive triathletes, ONE reports.
Danny Atar, head of the Gilboa Regional Council, framed the race as a showcase for the region. "The unique local trails combined with professional organisation will create a race that merges important values like sport and excellence against the backdrop of Gilboa's landscape," he said, according to ONE.
Itamar Matiash, head of the Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council, echoed that ambition, describing an event that stitches together three different municipalities into one experience — swimming in the valley's streams alongside biking and running through the surrounding countryside.
Afula mayor Avi Elkabetz is also a partner in the initiative, with the city's municipal park serving as the finish line for the marquee race.
The three councils are pitching the event as the start of an annual fixture, with hopes of eventually establishing an international sporting tradition in Israel's north — a notable ambition for a discipline that has been absent from the local competitive calendar for a considerable stretch.
