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Event Information:
The
Istanbul Marathon (full name
Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia
Marathon; (Turkish: İstanbul Avrasya
Maratonu) is an international
athletics event organized by the
metropolitan municipality in
Istanbul, Turkey, every year on a
Sunday in October since 1979.
The
course is asphalt, mostly flat and
is free of traffic. It is the only
course in the world where the
marathon includes two continents,
Asia and Europe, in one race. The
marathon starts on the Asian side of
the city, short before the First
Bosphorus Bridge, crosses the bridge
giving an outstanding view of the
Bosphorus and Istanbul, and passes
many historic sites including the
Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and
ends in the İnönü Stadium in the
European part. In all, the race
crosses three bridges, one over the
Bosporus and two over the Golden
Horn. The course changed three times
over the years, therefore winning
scores differ.
To
register for the marathon,
participants must be 18 years of age
or older on the race day. The three
race categories for men and women
are: marathon, 15 km and public run.
A special category for disabled
persons exists also. In 2003, 571
athletes (523 men and 48 women) from
all over the world took part in the
marathon category only.
Participation in the public run was
with 150.000 people a record set in
1998.
Course
record for men was set by Moges Taye
of Ethiopia in 2 hours 13 minutes
and 37seconds (1997), and for women
by Madina Biktagirova of Russia in
2:34:25 (2005). In 2006, course
record for men was broken by the
Lithuanian athlete Mindaugas Pukstas
in 2:12:52, and Madina Biktagirova
of Russia renewed her own course
record for women from the previous
year with 2:28:21.
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