After a day of exploring the sites, we stopped by the Istanbul Marathon Expo Center to pick up our race packets. There was a fancy countdown on the outside of the building:

Inside were lots of athletic vendors, a pasta station, and an art exhibit of student work. Their drawings and interpretation of the marathon were impressive!

We woke up early on Sunday morning for the race. Our group of friends were the FIRST people on the shuttle buses out of the Sultanahmet area. We were proud of ourselves for that.

They had updated race start area with landscaping. You can see some of it behind the chestnut man’s head:

Seven teachers ran: two in the marathon, four in the 15k, and one in the 10k. Mom and I walked the 10k. Here are their shoe chips:

It was drizzly all day, but it was still amazing to walk across the Bosporus Bridge:

There were a ridiculous number of participants this year. This photo is looking back at the Bosporus Bridge. Even at our slow place, the bridge still had a long trail of people:

The Istanbul Marathon is the only intercontinental race. You start in Asia and end in Europe!

The walk is a great way to take in the city:

We made it back to Sultanahmet just in time to watch David finish his second marathon. Check out those calves!

David cut over 25 minutes from his time from last year! He finished in 4:02:04. I am so proud of him and all of the hard work, time, and training he put in to run 26.2 MILES!

After the race, we flew back to Ankara and Mom flew to Izmir for a Seven Churches of Revelation tour. It was a great weekend!