The former head of BICOM is running 10km six days a week for each of the hostages in a bid to raise awareness of their plight.
James Sorene from Woodside Park, north-west London, wakes up at 5am every morning whatever the weather, letting his Twitter/X followers know which hostage he is dedicating his run to.
Sorene, who is in his 40s, has so far run over 350km, while also raising over £2,200 for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s foremost emergency services.
The senior civil servant, told the JC: “Like many others, I was struck by just how horrific October 7 was, leaving me deeply affected. I began thinking, again, like many others, about what practical things I could do to help and show solidarity.”
He said: “I thought it might be nice if the family and friends of those held hostage were to see some crazy guy in London spending an hour each day in the cold to highlight the plight of the victims and to try and raise some money.”
Sorene’s cousin, Jake Marlowe, a security guard at the Nova music festival, was murdered in the October 7 terror attack. Sorene’s nephew, Ariel, “narrowly survived” the attack on the festival, running about 15km with friends to safety.
Sorene’s brother’s friend, Shlomi Ziv, is still thought to be held hostage by Hamas.
A qualified athletics coach who has been running for about a decade, Sorene says he would advise any of his students that it was “silly” to run such a distance daily.
“It’s a real endurance challenge, and it’s hard to work so hard without injuring yourself. But it’s been quite an amazing experience.”
“When you’re running, your mind naturally wanders, and it helps to keep the hostages in your thoughts as a way to overcome the physical element of what it is you’re doing.”
Sorene ran 19km on November 26 in order to attend the march against antisemitism, and every Friday, in a mark of solidarity, he extends his run to pass the Israeli Embassy in Kensington.
Nearly 140 people are still being held hostage in Gaza by the terror group Hamas.
Click here to sponsor James.
