In Pictures: Gaza marathon

The race started at the entrance to Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and ended at the southern city of Rafah [EPA]

More than 1,000 runners took part, mostly amateurs and school children running either the half marathon or 10k [AFP]

Only nine people signed up to run the 42-kilometre stretch, including Palestinian athletes training for the 2012 Olympics [EPA]

The event was organised as a fundraiser by the UNRWA, raising about $1 million to fund summer camps for Gazan children [AFP]

There were no surprises when it came to the winner, 31-year-old Nader al-Masri, a Gazan from Beit Hanoun [AFP]

Al-Masri entered the 5,000 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and is hoping to enter the 2012 Olympics [AFP]

"This is a very happy day for me because it is the first-ever marathon in Gaza," al-Masri said. "It is a day of joy." [AFP]