Türkiye's Istanbul on Sunday played host to the Istanbul Half Marathon, an event that holds an esteemed reputation as one of the premier half marathons globally.
The event was organized by Spor Istanbul, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), and attracted over 12,000 participants from 60 countries, including 56 elite athletes competing in three categories: 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers and 21 kilometers skating races.
The race began at Yenikapı rally ground and took the athletes through a challenging course that included the Galata Bridge, Cankurtaran, Çataltıkapı, Sarayburnu, Sirkeci, Eminönü, Golden Horn Bridge, Fatih district border, Eminönü, Unkapanı, Cibali, Abdülezelpaşa Street, and Ayvansaray, before finishing back at Yenikapı rally ground.
Over 533 volunteers participated in the event, which started at 9:30 a.m. Among the distinguished attendees were Can Akın Çağlar, the secretary general of IBB, and Renay Onur, the general manager of Spor Istanbul.
The men's half marathon was won by Daniel Simiu Ebenyo from Kenya, who finished with an impressive time of 59:52.
Hicham Amghar from Morocco was a close second with a time of 59:57, while Haftu Teklu from Ethiopia came in third with a time of 1:00:01.
Among the women, Kenyan Purity Jemutai Komen took the top spot with a time of 1:06:28, followed by Ruth Chepngetich from the same country with a time of 1:07:18.
Evaline Chirchir, another Kenyan athlete, secured third place with a time of 1:07:30.
Turkish athletes also performed well at the event, with Ilham Tanui Özbilen finishing the men's half marathon in 1:04:19, and Yayla Kılıç Gönen completing the women's race in 1:11:51.
In the 10-kilometer race, Abdullah Yıldız emerged as the winner in the men's category with a time of 32:16, while Özge Çolak finished first in the women's category with a time of 38:50.
German athlete Sebastian Mirsch secured first place in the skating race with a time of 38:39.
Yayla Kılıç Gönen, who was the top-performing Turkish athlete in the event, expressed her happiness after finishing with a time of 1.11.51.
She said that this was her first time participating in the Istanbul Half Marathon and was delighted to achieve the second-best rank after her best performance in Spain.
Gönen added that she participated in the race to qualify for the World Championship and was disappointed not to finish first, yet she intends to focus on the upcoming World Championships.
Gönen also spoke about her success in Spain, where she achieved the best rank in Turkish history.
She said that she had decided to participate in the competition as a show of solidarity after the Feb. 6 earthquake disaster that had affected her badly.
She wanted to demonstrate how strong Türkiye is and what it can achieve in any condition.
Gönen expressed her gratitude to the Turkish Athletics Federation, her sponsors, her trainer Sedat Gonen and all her supporters.
Gönen praised the organizers of the "N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon" for their excellent coordination and stated that the event was truly among the best half marathons in the world.
