Beatie Deutsch
Bracha “Beatie” Deutsch is an American-Israeli marathon runner. She has won the Tiberias Marathon and the Jerusalem Marathon, as well as the Israeli half-marathon and marathon national championships. In 2024, a documentary of her life called Marathon Mom was released.
Background
Deutsch was born in the United States, the oldest of five siblings, grew up in Passaic, New Jersey, and emigrated to Israel in 2008. Her father is a doctor. She has a master's degree in school counseling from Northeastern University, as well as a black belt in taekwondo.A Haredi woman, Deutsch lives in Moshav Neve Michael in central Israel with her husband Michael, a yeshiva teacher and computer science student whom she married in 2009, and their five children. Before she committed herself to running, Deutsch worked full-time as a communication officer for the non-denominational Olami international Jewish outreach organization, which brings college students closer to religion and helps professionals get in touch with their roots by coming to Israel.
Running career
2016–2017
Deutsch began running in 2016 at the age of 25. She runs in a long-sleeved top, below-the-knee skirt, and head scarf, and dedicates her runs to charitable causes.She ran her first marathon at the Tel Aviv Marathon in 2016 after taking up running only four months earlier. Deutsch finished sixth, with a time of 3:27:26.
At the 2017 Tel Aviv Marathon, while seven months pregnant, Deutsch finished with a time of 4:08:16.
2018
In March 2018, Deutsch was the first placed Israeli in the Jerusalem Marathon and the sixth place overall, with a time of 3:09:50, setting a course record for Israeli female runners. Later that year she won the Israel Half Marathon Championship in Beit She'an, with a time of 1:19:53 hours.2019
At the Israeli National Championships Marathon in Tiberias, Deutsch won first place with a time of 2:42:18, the fifth-best result of all time for female Israeli runners.In May, Deutsch ran her first international race, winning the Riga half marathon, in 1 hour 17 minutes and 34 seconds. In September of that year, Deutsch ran in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and finished in the 8th place.
Deutsch trained for the 2020 Olympics. She qualified for the Olympics, ranking as one of the top 80 women runners in the world. However, when the Tokyo Olympics was postponed due to COVID-19, the women's marathon moved from a Sunday to a Saturday. She tried to appeal the decision that moved that race to Shabbat, so she could compete without transgressing her religious beliefs. However, the IOC declined her request. And, in April 2020, runners had to requalify for an Olympic spot; while Deutsch ran a personal record of 2:31:39 in England, she did not make the cutoff.