Bethlehem , West Bank ( CNN ) In the biblical city of Bethlehem , Sana Jamaani is warmed up and ready to run . This is n't her first race , but she says it is her most important . `` I 'm running in the Holy Land , '' Jamaani smiles . `` I 'm running in Palestine . '' More than 3,000 runners came to the West Bank for the Palestine Marathon on Friday . For Jamaani , this is n't just a race for time . It is a run for recognition . `` It means that you run for peace , '' Jamaani says . Two weeks before this marathon , more than 25,000 runners took part in the Jerusalem Marathon . The race was a celebration of sport in a citywide event that drew international attention and competition . The course took runners through old and new Jerusalem . They were free to run . But in Bethlehem , runners say they run to be free . `` We are trying to inspire people to take their own rights , '' says organizer Signe Fischer , `` and the right of movement is the only right that you can physically just claim . You can put on your running shoes and just take it . '' The Palestine Marathon is put on by the Palestine Olympic Committee and the Right to Movement , a nonprofit organization that uses running as a means of activism . They focus their efforts on what they see as one of the most basic rights : movement . Many of the runners are Palestinian , and their movement is limited , Israel says , for security reasons . The marathon course took runners along the West Bank separation barrier , into the Aida refugee camp , and under guard towers . Nader al-Masri won the marathon . He is from Gaza , and he says he had to wait five hours at the Erez border crossing to compete . He arrived in Manger Square at the finish line to a hero 's welcome . `` I saw parts of the wall all over . It 's very hard , but I 'm still proud of myself as a Palestinian , '' says al-Masri . In its third year , the marathon drew runners from all over the world , pilgrims of a sort making a journey to the holy land , not for religion , but for sport . `` It 's an achievement , '' said Jamaani after finishing . `` Everyone looks for an achievement in life , and one of them was crossing this line , especially in the Palestine Marathon . '' For runners like Jamaani , the marathon is a statement made one step at a time .
More than 3,000 runners came to the West Bank . `` It means that you run for peace , '' Sana Jamaani says .