On November 15, I ran the Istanbul Marathon in Istanbul,
Turkey. This is the only marathon in the
world at spans two continents. It
starts in Asia, on the east side of the Strait of Bosphorus, and finishes in Europe,
in the heart of Istanbul’s “Old City.”
Istanbul has a long history, and it’s been known by a few
different names. For nearly 1,000 years,
it was known as Byzantium. In 330, Constantine
the Great made it the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It then became known as Constantinople, which
means the City of Constantine. After the
fall of Rome, Constantinople endured as capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the Muslim conquest in 1453,
Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Finally, after World War I, the Ottoman Empire
dissolved. When the modern nation of
Turkey was formed, the city’s name was changed to Istanbul.
Istanbul spans the Bosphorus, the strait that connects the
Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The Bosphorus forms part of the boundary
between Europe and Asia, making Istanbul a city that’s part of two
continents. This location has made it a
hub for international trade and a cultural crossroad.
I traveled to Istanbul with Marathon Tours and Travel
(MT&T). I’ve made my own
arrangements for a number of international races, but this was one where I felt
more comfortable traveling with a group.
I was one of 30 runners in the group.
Here’s a day by day account of my trip.
Tuesday, November 10
I left in the afternoon on an overnight flight to
Amsterdam. I say “overnight” because I
arrived in Amsterdam Wednesday morning, but in my own time zone, it was still
late Tuesday night. It wasn’t until the
last two hours of the flight that it was actually late enough for me to try to
take a nap. Before I could fall asleep,
it was time for our arrival meal.
Wednesday, November 11
I started the day with a five hour layover in Amsterdam. There’s a quiet relaxation area in the KLM
lounge, where I managed a short cat nap.
Next, I flew to Istanbul, arriving in the late afternoon. MT&T provided transportation to our
hotels in the “Old City.” Our group was
split between two hotels. I stayed at
the Ottoman Imperial Hotel. The other
hotel was the Hagia Sophia Hotel, which was a few blocks away. My hotel was right across the street from Aya
Sofya, and I had this view from my window.
We got to our hotels around 6:00. After checking in, we had a brief walking
tour of the neighborhood around our hotels to help us get oriented. Then I joined a few of the other runners for
dinner at a restaurant that was between the two hotels. Besides some kebabs, I got to try raki, a Turkish
drink that’s similar to ouzo. It was a
late dinner, so I went to bed as soon as I got back to the hotel.
There’s an eight hour time difference between Istanbul and
Minneapolis. I’ve only been on one trip
that was separated by more time zones. I
was so tired that first night I was able to crash immediately. I couldn’t quite sleep through the night, but
I got enough sleep to feel OK.
Thursday, November 12
Our hotel package included a buffet breakfast. It was similar to the breakfasts I’ve had at
other nice hotels in Europe, but with a few local favorites. One of the things I enjoyed was having figs
with breakfast every morning.
After breakfast, we walked over to the Hagia Sophia Hotel to
join the rest of our group. From there,
we began a full-day walking tour of the “Old City.” We had two local tour guides. During our tours, they gave us insights about
the culture and history of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey.
Our first stop was the Basilica Cistern. This underground structure housed one of the
city’s largest reservoirs. Cisterns like
this were used to supply the city with water, and they helped the city endure
long sieges by invading armies. The
water was brought into the city via aqueducts.
Next, we walked to the Hippodrome. This is a public gathering area that was once
used for large events such as chariot races.
Out third stop was the Blue Mosque. Built in the early 17th century, this mosque is
Istanbul’s most recognizable landmark.
It’s an example of Ottoman architecture.
Next, we toured Aya Sofya.
This basilica was originally built in the 6th century, but has twice
been rebuilt. It was the first Christian
church built by the Roman government, and signaled a shift to Christian
acceptance and dominance after centuries of persecution. After the Muslim conquest, it was converted
to a mosque. Now it’s a museum. It’s regarded as the finest example of
Byzantine architecture. It was the first
building to have a dome supported by arches.
I had lunch at a small, but well-known restaurant called The
Pudding Shop. In the 60s and 70s, this
was a favorite gathering spot for hippies.
After lunch, we visited the Grand Bazaar. This is a shopping district that dates back
to Roman times. It’s now covered and
houses over 4,000 shops.
After our tour, we met for a welcome reception at a pub
inside the Hagia Sophia Hotel. This was
an opportunity to meet all the other members of the tour group. After the reception, a group of us had a
light dinner at one of the hotel restaurants.
I got to bed later than I planned, but slept reasonably
well. Once during the night, I woke up
and trouble getting back to sleep, but that’s not too bad. I gradually adjusted to the time change.
Friday, November 13
After breakfast, we began another sightseeing tour by
walking to Topkapi Palace. This large palace
complex was the home of Ottoman sultans for hundreds of years. Today, it’s a museum. Many of the palace rooms were decorated with ornate
mosaics of tile. The grounds also house
the Ottoman crown jewels and a large collection of religious antiquities.
Next, we were brought by bus to the Spice Bazaar. This is a covered market with lots of small
shops where you can buy spices, nuts, dried fruits, locally produced snack
foods and trinkets.
After the Spice Bazaar, we took a lunch break. I had a pizza with Turkish sausage. It was one of the spiciest pizzas I’ve
tasted.
In the afternoon, we were taken by bus to the marathon expo,
to pick up our race packets. The expo was
a distance away, and on our way we went outside the city walls. On our way back, our guide showed us the
walls. He explained how these
fortifications were used to protect Constantinople from attack during Roman
times, and how the Ottomans eventually penetrated the walls.
After having a large lunch, I didn’t feel like eating
another meal. I joined a couple of the
other runners for dinner at the Hagia Sophia Hotel, but I just had a
dessert. That night, I finally got to
bed early enough to get a full night’s sleep.
Saturday, November 14
On Saturday, we were free to explore other parts of the city
on our own. I got together with some of
the other runners from my hotel, and we took the tram to Galata Bridge. This is a bridge across the Golden Horn, which
is a popular fishing spot.
After walking across the bridge, we rode a funicular to the
top of a hill and went to the top of Galata Tower. From there, you can see most of the city,
including the Asian side.
After walking back across the bridge, we bought tickets for
a 90 minute Bosphorus cruise. It was
almost an hour until the next cruise left, so we had lunch at a café in the
Spice Bazaar. Service wasn’t quite as
fast as we hoped, so we missed the noon cruise and had to wait for the 1:00
cruise. While we waited, we did more browsing at the Spice Bazaar.
Our cruise traveled along the Bosphorus near the European
side and then turned around and came back along the Asian side. That gave us views of landmarks on both
sides. We went underneath the Bosphorus
Bridge twice, giving us out first views of how we would start the marathon.
When I got back to the hotel, I spent the remainder of the
afternoon resting and getting my clothes organized for the race. Later, we had a pre-race pasta dinner, which
was included with our tour package.
Sunday, November 15
Sunday was race day.
MT&T provided transportation from our hotels to the start, which was
on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Bridge.
The race didn’t start until 9:00, but we had to leave the hotel at 6:00,
so we could get across the Bosphorus Bridge before it was closed to traffic. After we got to the Asian side, we had extra
time, so they took us to the top of a hill.
From there we had views of the city from the Asian side.
We got to the start before bathroom lines got long. After a bathroom break and a group picture,
we started lining up for the race.
There were three races starting in the same place. The marathon and 15K race each started at
9:00, but on opposite sides of the bridge. The 10K race lined up right behind
the marathon, but started 10 minutes later.
The temperature ranged from 53 degrees before the race to 60
degrees around noon. It was a mostly
sunny day, making it feel warmer. Although
most people would consider that ideal weather for running in shorts, I wore
tights. I wanted to keep my legs warm,
and I was willing to risk getting hot.
Because we arrived so early, I also wore warm-up
layers. The race had a baggage
check. I removed my warm-up clothes and
checked my bag about 40 minutes before the race. I couldn’t wait much longer or the baggage
trucks would leave.
The baggage trucks for the marathon were located in front of
the starting line. It took several
minutes to work my way through the crowd and find the right truck. Then I looked for the closest place to enter
the start area.
They had plastic vests you could wear to keep warm in the
start area. After a few minutes, I
realized I didn’t need my vest. I was
warmer than I expected, so I also took off my gloves.
This race has a time limit of 5:30. My fastest time since September is 5:13, so I
had to take the time limit seriously. I
was carrying a camera, but I didn’t know if I would have time to take pictures
during the race
It’s not every day you cross a bridge from one continent to
another. A friend who has done this race
cautioned me about congestion on the bridge.
Many runners stop on the bridge to take pictures. My first priority was to get across the
bridge quickly. I lined up close to the
front, stayed near the center, and ran across at the best pace I could
manage. After that, I tried to settle
into a more sustainable pace.
I had to resist the temptation to stop on the bridge to take
pictures. It’s a long suspension bridge,
which reminded me of the Golden Gate and Verrazano Narrows bridges, although
they both have longer spans. From the
middle of the bridge, you can see the Bosphorus Strait, with Asia on one side
and Europe on the other.
There was a strong wind blowing through the strait. As I crossed the bridge, I briefly felt
cold. For the time being, I was glad I
wore tights, but later I would have regrets.
Long suspension bridges are usually steep hills. This one wasn’t as steep as I expected, but after
crossing the bridge, we began a long climb.
This was an opportunity to slow down, but then we began a long
downgrade, and I sped up again. Climbing
this hill, I started getting hot, so I removed my arm warmers.
In didn’t check my pace until I finished 5K. At that point, I could see I was going too
fast, so I eased up a little. We started
on a highway, but now we were getting onto streets through a busy neighborhood. We started getting good crowd support here.
Just past 5K, we reached an aid station. Like most European races, they handed out
water in small bottles. I was already
getting hot, so I drank most of the bottle.
After that, aid stations were
spaced 2.5 kilometers apart. When I
realized they wouldn’t be too far apart, I drank less at each aid station. Early in the race, the aid stations only had
water.
Just before 10K, we crossed the Galata Bridge. The finish line for the 10K race was just
across the bridge, near the Spice Bazaar.
The marathon and 15K race continued on an out-and-back section that ran
parallel to the Golden Horn.
As I reached the 10K mark, I checked my watch again. I wasn’t going as fast as I did in the first
5K, but it was still a pace that I knew I couldn’t sustain. I chose not to worry about it. I embarked on a fast first half, knowing I
would probably struggle in the second half.
I was confident I could break 5:30, even if I slowed substantially in
the second half. Lately, I haven’t been
doing much training other than my races.
Running the first half at a faster pace was the only way to get in some
training at this pace.
Around 12.5K, the 15K course turned around to head back
towards their finish next to the Spice Bazaar.
The marathon continued farther before eventually reaching another
turnaround point. This out-and-back
section was fairly flat. On our way
back, we merged in with the 15K field again.
As we neared the finish of the 15K race, the courses
diverged. The 15K runners continued
straight to their finish line. We turned
right to cut to run through the heart of the “old city.”
The “old city” is built on seven hillsides. Running straight through the city inevitably
meant running over one of those hills. As
soon as we turned, be began a long gradual climb. Here, I slowed substantially. At the top of the hill, we ran under the Aqueduct
of Valens. This was once part of an
elaborate system of water channels that brought water into the city from the
north and connected with 100 cisterns.
After cresting the hill, I was rewarded with a long gradual
downgrade. Here, the running got easier,
but I never regained my previous pace.
As I reached the 20K mark, I saw how much my pace had slowed since 15K. Over that section, I averaged a little better
than seven minutes per kilometer. That
was nearly a minute slower than my earlier pace, but it was still faster than
the pace I needed to average to break 5:30.
I reached the halfway point in 2:13:26. I was on pace to break 4:30, but I knew the
second half would be much slower. That’s
OK. I could afford to be roughly an hour
slower.
After cutting across the city, we reached the coast and
began a longer out-and-back segment. I mentally
divided the rest of the race into three segments of roughly equal length. It would be 7K to the turnaround and then 7K
back to where I was now. Then I’d have
7K remaining to reach the finish.
As I started the out-and-back, the elite runners were
already on the way back. Watching the
fast runners helped keep me motivated.
Before long, I also started to see some of the faster runners in our
tour group.
At 23K, we ran through the remnants of the city wall that
surrounds the “old city.”
By now, I was getting really hot. I was regretting wearing tights. So far, all the aid stations just had
water. I felt like I was drinking
enough, but I wasn’t getting any electrolytes.
I also wasn’t getting any sugar. I didn’t realize it until after the
race, but some of the aid stations had sugar cubes.
From 20K to 25K, I averaged roughly 7:30 per kilometer. That’s barely faster than the pace I needed
to average to break 5:30. Overall, I was
well ahead of the pace, but it was discouraging to know I would soon be giving
back time.
When I reached 28K, I was disappointed that I couldn’t see
the turnaround yet. It wasn’t much
farther. When I got there, I got a
pleasant surprise. We turned into a
headwind. When the wind was at our
backs, I was hot. With the wind in my
face, I felt much more comfortable.
Kilometer 29 was the first one to take more than eight minutes. From this point on, however, I only needed to
average 10 minutes per kilometer. I
might be able to walk that fast. It was
encouraging to know that walking the rest of the way would soon be an option.
The aid station at 30K was the first one to have more than
just water. They had gel packets,
bananas, and a large basin filled with salt.
I ate a gel and a banana. I
skipped the salt, but that might have been a mistake. In time, as my perspiration evaporated, I saw
white streaks all over my tights. I had
been sweating pretty heavily earlier, and I evidently lost a significant amount
of salt through my sweat.
At 33K, we ran back through the city wall. Knowing we were re-entering the “old city”
was comforting. You always know from the
kilometer markers how far you’ve run and how far you have left. That’s somewhat abstract. Knowing I was back within the “old city” gave
me a better feel for how close I was to the finish. It made the remaining distance seem more
tangible.
At 35K, I reached the end of the second out-and-back
section. That 7K segment seemed to take
forever. Knowing I still had 7K to go
wasn’t as comforting as I hoped it would be.
In international races, I usually wear my Marathon
Globetrotters singlet and one of my Comrades Marathon hats. A couple from France saw my singlet and told
me they were Marathon Globetrotters too.
Earlier, a runner from Norway recognized me as a fellow Comrades runner by
my hat. There were a number of runners
from South Africa, and they all greeted me when they saw my Comrades hat.
In the distance, I saw a large mosque at the top of a
hill. It looked like the Blue Mosque,
which I knew was close to the finish. To
be sure, I counted the minarets. Most
mosques have one, two or four minarets.
The Blue Mosque is the only one to have six. From this vantage point, I could see five of
them. I could see the finish.
With 5K to go, I felt myself slowing substantially. Running became more difficult, so I started
walking. I wasn’t sure if it was just a
walking break, or if I would walk the whole way. The Blue Mosque looked closer. After stopping to take a picture, I forced
myself to run again.
As I got closer, the mosque disappeared behind closer
buildings. We were following the coast,
and I could see across the strait to the Asian side of the city. Looking farther to my right, I could see the
Sea of Marmara. As the road gradually
curved to the left, the Bosphorus Bridge came into view.
Soon, I saw a large brick wall on my left. It was the outer wall of the Topkapi Palace
complex. Eventually, we had to climb the
hill to the finish, but first, we were running all the way around the palace.
As I reached the 24K mark, I realized even a casual walking
pace would bring me in well under 5:30.
My pace never got as slow as 10 minutes per kilometer, so I had built a
nice cushion.
The road bent to the left and we began a gradual climb. Right at the bend, I stopped one last time to
take another picture of the Bosphorus Bridge.
Then I began walking. The finish
at the Hippodrome was at the top of the first of the seven hills. From here, it was mostly uphill. That’s OK.
I had plenty of time to walk it.
We made a sharp left and ran up a steeper hill on a
cobblestone road. Then we entered Gilhame
Park, which is adjacent to the palace.
Inside the park, we ran on a wide sidewalk. The surface here was made of stone
tiles. It was a smooth surface, and the
hill leveled off. I started running
again.
This section of the course didn’t have any markings. If not for the steady trickle of runners
going through the park, you wouldn’t know it was part of the marathon
course. People strolling through the
park outnumbered the runners by about ten to one. They didn’t seem to be aware of the race. They didn’t give us any clearance, and I had
to weave around them.
Where we left the park, we turned onto a steep hill. I wanted to start walking, but spectators
were cheering and clapping. I felt
obligated to keep running.
With 500 meters to go, we had signs every 100 meters. As I neared the top of the hill, I had 400
meters to go. Several members of our
tour group, who had already finished, were shouting my name. I didn’t see or hear them. I had tunnel vision.
With 300 meters to go, I left the street. I was now running across a brick
terrace. I had reached the
Hippodrome. I wondered if the horses in
those ancient chariot races felt this tired.
I was on my last legs.
With 200 meters to go, I could finally see the finish
line. I finished in 5:14:04. After crossing the line, I was handed a water
bottle and a large plastic bag. I
assumed it was a snack bag. It contained
snacks, but it also had my finisher medal, a T-shirt, and a plastic rain
poncho.
After finishing, my first order of business was finding the
baggage trucks, so I could retrieve my gear bag. I had to ask a few other runners, but I
eventually found them. To get there by
the most direct route, I stepped over a few short fences. Lifting either foot high enough to step over
them proved to be a challenge, but I eventually got there. After I had my bag, I only had to walk a few
blocks to get back to the hotel. On the
way, I saw a few other runners from our group on their way to the finish.
To get to the hotel lobby, I had to go up a few steps. I had to take them one step at a time. I’ve run 299 marathons and ultras, but I
can’t remember another time I had so much trouble walking up steps. I had to go up a flight of stairs to get to
my room. I made it to the last step. Then I seemed to get stuck. After resting and putting all my strength
into it, I got over the last step.
Later in the day, I met the rest of our group for dinner at
a nearby restaurant. Our local tour
guides were there too. It was a nice way
to wrap up the trip.
When I left the restaurant, I was so tired, I thought I
would fall asleep immediately. Then I
climbed in bed, and my feet started to cramp.
It took me two hours to get to sleep.
Then I kept waking up with a dry throat.
I kept drinking water and going back to bed.
Monday, November 16
Getting home from Europe is always an ordeal. If you need to make connections, you
generally need to start with an early flight.
I started with a 5:55 AM flight from Istanbul to Amsterdam. MT&T provided transportation to the
airport. I needed to catch the earliest shuttle,
which left at 3:00. I had to check out
and be in the lobby by 2:50. That meant
getting up at 1:30 so I would have time to finish packing.
I got less than two hours of sleep. That’s not a good way to start the day when
you’re going to spend 20 hours traveling and then face an eight hour time
change. I still had a sore throat. At first I thought it was just a dry throat
from dehydration. By the time I got home,
I realized I was coming down with a cold.
This was my 13th marathon or ultra in Europe. Here’s an updated map of the countries where
I’ve run. Only the European portion of
Turkey is colored in green. The beige
region is the Asian portion of Turkey.
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