Avrasya Maratonu

Looking back at the bridge with everyone coming across.

The neighborhood of Ortakoy (known for its baked potatoes), on the European side.

Looking South over the Bosphorus. Witness the great smog line, though otherwise absolutely gorgeous.

Looking North up the Bosphorus.

Giant, angry cigarette running with Alex. The motto of the race was "sigarasiz bir dunya icin kosuyoruz" - running for a cigarette free world.... roughly.

Turks piling onto a passing truck.

The Asian coast looking South towards the Golden Horn.

Me on the Bosphorus Bridge, the first bridge, with thousands of other Fun Runners.

The starting line on the freeway. They closed traffic going both directions on the bridge for most of the day which caused huge traffic problems throughout the city because there are only two bridges over the Bosphorus - but it was really awesome for us!

Morning sun on the freeway as Turks line up to run.

This morning was the 28th Annual Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasian Marathon! I didn't run the marathon - I just did the 8K. Actually - I didn't even run the 8K - I walked a fair bit because I took pictures the whole time.

The race started in Asia - which meant getting up at 6 to get downtown by 7:30 am to catch the service buses that drove us to Uskadar and the race starting line. From there we ran across the First Bridge - one of two bridges in Istanbul - which was incredible because it may be the only time all year when pedestrians are allowed on the bridge, normally it's forbidden. It was a beautiful day too which was nice because yesterday it was storming/snowing/blizzarding all day and hovering around freezing. Today was sunny and clear!

The route went across the bridge and ended up in Taksim Square where we got our free t-shirts and medals! Woo hoo! The whole race had a really fun, festive atmosphere and was full of families and thousands and thousands of Turks. There were at least a thousand policemen on the route, and tons of men selling water and simit and tons of Turkish flags and soccer songs. It was so great to walk the normally hazardous streets/freeways of Istanbul with so many people!