[Successfully finished the world's only intercontinental marathon (Istanbul Marathon in Turkey), achieving a double breakthrough: sub-4 and a new overseas marathon PB]
On Sunday, November 5, 2023, I took part in the 45th Istanbul Marathon. This is the only intercontinental marathon in the world (running from Asia to Europe), and coinciding with the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, the atmosphere was even more festive and lively.
The race started at 9:00 a.m., and I was seeded in Corral B. The start line was about 200 meters in front of the Bosphorus Bridge, which spans both Europe and Asia, while the finish line was at the Blue Mosque. Most of the course ran along the coastline, with the toughest parts being the uphill climb right at the start leading onto the bridge and the long uphill stretch just before the finish.
Since the Bosphorus Bridge is open to runners only on this single day of the year and usually closed to pedestrians, I naturally took my time to record videos and take photos on the bridge after the start. The weather was clear today, around 20–22°C. Although it was cooler in the first half, there was a headwind between 12K and 26K, and I finished the first half marathon in 1 hour and 56 minutes.  In the second half, I was passed by the 3:45 pacer at 30K. Shockingly, there were no sports drinks at the aid stations, so I started zoning out and found every step a struggle in the later stages. The mostly uphill final 1.5K was particularly challenging. In the end, I clocked around 2 hours and 2 minutes for the second half, finishing with a time of 3:57:51. The split difference between the first and second halves was about 6 minutes, which is quite a significant gap.
I'm very satisfied with my result in this race, as I broke sub-4 and set a new overseas marathon PB.
A big thank you to my wife for cheering on both me and our fellow tour runners along the course, and for helping ease my fatigue after the race.
# 144th Marathon # 26th Overseas Marathon # 88 Consecutive Months of Full Marathons # Results link: https://results.splittime.nl/results/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=715 # Need to enter the official website + select My Events + to download the finisher certificate: https://event.spor.istanbul/activeevents.aspx
