Istanbul 2013

Hi, just wanting to find out if the Istanbul marathon is flat or hilly, the chart on the website makes me think it is flat but some reviews claim the chart is wrong. Any help appreciated!

Comments

  • Istanbul looked very hilly when i was there - but not sure where the marathon is ? 

  • Hi Anders, there are a few hills but most of it is flat and follows the river or the coast.  The first 4 miles are pretty hilly, then there's another lump at about 11-12 miles and then, just when you don't need it, a climb up from the coast through the grounds of the Topkapi Palace to the finish.  Most of the second half is out and back along the coastal road - it can be pretty windy but its flat.  Looking at the course elevation on the website, I'd say it was pretty accurate.

  • Thanks! It sounds like an interesting run, might sign up.

  • It is definitely a marathon worth running - the organization is not the best (a few serious flaws actually) but the experience of running over the bridge and through the streets of Istanbul is fantastic.

    The charts are very accurate by the way.

  • Kris, What were the serious flaws?  I was thinking about doing this this year?

    Thanks.

  • Ian, two points:

    1 - I found that communication and information prior to picking up the start number could be better. Once you find out at which location you should pick up the number at it is a matter of locating it. Even when entering the building you are not quite sure you are in the right place but once you find your way down the escalators to the basement everything is great. Furthermore, I had to contact the organizers a few days before via telephone - it took numerous attempts before I got someone on the line who could help me in English. These are not major things but things I would have expected such a big marathon to have thought through.

    2 - I have run several marathons before and always completed without any problems, but in Istanbul I ran into an injury which took me to the hospital. I went through 4 hours of total confusion and eventually ended up on the street outside the hospital (with a note in my hand saying 281 which was apparently the bus I could take back to my hotel) I must admit that it would have helped me if I had had my mobile phone by me (but as a runner I try to run with as little extra weight as possible), some money (which I could have used for the bus....or a taxi) or if I would have spoken Turkish! But even so, I found it appalling that the organization could not even inform my wife (standing at the finish line for hours extra waiting for me) that I had been taken to the hospital (they even denied that I was on the list of people who had been taken to the hospital!!) or that they at the hospital seemed sooo surprised that someone from the marathon would end up there. I tried to ask for some water at the hospital (never got it!), tried to ask for a blanket as it quite quickly gets cold when you cool down (never got it) and also tried to ask if I could get some papers with me in relation to which tests they had done (mission impossible). My best advice; DON"T get injured thereimage 

  • Thanks for the good info Kris - I will do my best not to get injured!

  • Hi, I'm thinking of this for November so looking for any feedback.

    also any suggestions for well located hotels?

     

    thanks.

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