On Friday evening, 3 March, after a busy day, I flew from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Antalya. Ali Gültiken, a volunteer and organizer for Adım Adım, met us at the airport. We travelled from the airport to the Akra Barut Hotel in the organized vehicle.
Adım Adım has such a unique atmosphere. Even though I didn’t know anyone in the group I was with, everyone seemed to be in a family-like atmosphere, chatting and acting as if they already knew each other. This relaxed and positive atmosphere can’t help but lift your spirits.
We arrived at the hotel late that evening, and after taking care of a few business matters, it was time for bed.
Saturday morning, we started the day with an Adım Adım training session. There were many activities throughout the day. Since I was alone in Antalya, I didn’t have much opportunity to participate in these activities.
This is the magnificent view of Antalya I took from my room this morning. The sea and the snow-capped mountains come together.
The Runatolia 2017 program, prepared for us by Adım Adım, started on Friday.
But I didn’t want to miss the morning workout. My volunteers, Işıl, Hande, and Nurten, joined me. Along with the other Adım Adım participants, about 25-30 of us had a great time.
Of course, since this workout was the day before the Antalya run, it definitely wasn’t supposed to be strenuous. Adım Adım‘s volunteer coaches, who were very deliberate, only had us warm up our muscles and work up a sweat. We did various drills and played games. After about an hour and a half of sweating, it was time to return to the hotel. We showered there and went straight down to breakfast. Afterward, we mostly sat in the lobby. We hung our T-shirts, left our brochures on the table in the center, and waited in the lobby with our various banners and bags. Just being in such a positive, bubbling environment is a morale booster.
AKUT banner in memory of Murat Bakan
People curious about TIDER came up to us and started talking. At one point, I saw Jülide Ergin, AKUT’s general manager, at the reception. I told him we would be running for Murat Bakan and that we wanted to unfurl a banner for Murat and support AKUT. I unfurled the banner we had prepared and showed it to him. He responded very positively, was touched, and thanked us. We arranged to meet after Adım Adım‘s photo shoot. They also interviewed us and took pictures at the Adım Adım booth, right next to the reception. Then, in the afternoon, the rest of the group began arriving.
We arranged for the Adım Adım photo shoot with the TIDER volunteers at 4:30 PM. Then, we met in the lobby, and all went down to the photo area. Many people had entered the area with the lowercase and uppercase A’s, the Adım Adım logo, for the drone shoot. Our friends immediately jumped into the A’s. Myself and the other 7 or 8 TIDER members couldn’t get in because the A’s were packed. We just watched the crowd and the drone from the sidelines. The image below emerged.
After this shoot, we found the A’s. As we had agreed, we met with our AKUT brothers and sisters to commemorate the occasion in honor of Murat Bakan, who gave our run a special meaning, and together we unfurled the banner below.
The loss of our friend Murat Bakan touched us all deeply. I wrote about his story in my previous blog post:http://www.serhansuzer.com/tr/sizlerle-yuz-binlere-destek-vermeye-dunyaya-ornek-olmaya-kosuyoruz
At the presentation in Florya, we turned the phrase that had sparked a joke between Murat and me into a slogan and shared it all together in his memory: “AKUT saves lives, TİDER connects us to life.”
The next day, as we told AKUT, we all ran with Murat Bakan’s pictures on our chests. May Murat Bakan Rest in Peace
Later, we arranged dinner for all our volunteers. 15 of our 22 volunteers and I walked together over to Nejat Balık near the hotel. Some of our volunteers, buoyed by a wonderful feast of fish with folk music, demonstrated their belly dancing skills. One of our volunteers, Oğuzhan Bey (a truly talented musician himself), joined the fasıl group and sang a song, accepting our request. We ended the night on a very joyous note. We made arrangements for the next morning. I’d like to share a photo we took at the fish restaurant that evening:
We met in the breakfast room at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Almost all the volunteers had breakfast together. The following image emerged.
After a brief preparation, we departed the hotel around 8:00 and took the first bus we found to the racetrack.
The racetrack had once again become a true festival. The NGOs on the Adım Adım platform had created a truly enjoyable atmosphere. There were dancers, playful warm-ups, chatters, loud cheers—everything you could ask for was fun, and everyone was enjoying the atmosphere. The weather was beautiful, too.
We 22 TIDER members, warmed up together, chatted with other NGOs, cheered, and took pictures. İhsan, who was with us at all the important events and took videos and photos, was also with us in Antalya. I’d like to share the photo taken during this time.
At 9:00, the 21 K runners started. At 9:30, the 10 K runners started. Only our Adım Adım NGO representative, Pınar, ran the 21 K in our group with everyone else participating in the 10 K. I started running with our volunteers. As TIDER, we were at the back of the pack. That’s why we were surrounded by a large crowd. So, we ran the first 2 K at a slow pace, joking around with our volunteers. Then, when the road opened up a bit, I asked permission from my team and increased my pace. After that, I ran at a steady pace.
Coming in the top 70 without training is a good time.
I also finished the race in 47 minutes. This was the net time. Looking at the net time of 49.59, it appears we waited three minutes at the back of the pack after the start. With that 47-minute time, I finished 70th out of approximately 3,500 runners. Not a bad result for someone approaching 40, especially considering I hadn’t trained for the past month. I was personally pleased with my performance.
There were two things I wasn’t happy about during the race. First, as I crossed the finish line, I took off Murat Bakan’s picture on my chest and held it up. I saw the finish line, accompanied by cheers. There was no one to capture this moment. Unfortunately, everyone was running, and İhsan was waiting for us with our bags on the ground.
I would have loved to have captured this moment. Since I finished the race relatively early, no one else was there. Well, until next time.
Another unexpected and sad news story
What really bothered me was the news that someone had perished during the race. One of our volunteer runners, Dr. Hande, saw a collapsed runner being given CPR when she reached the finish line. She was the first to report this to us in our WhatsApp group. When I looked at the profile of the person whom I later learned was Zeynel Murat Batur, I learned that he was a good athlete but unfortunately had a heart attack just 300 meters from the finish line. I’d like to share a related news story:http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/maratondaki-olumun-nedeni-belli-oldu-40386136
We lost our friend Murat Bakan from AKUT for the same reason. May God have mercy on him!
After the race, I went up to İhsan where we’d left the bags. I told him, “You can go to the finish line, I’ll wait here for the bags.” As someone passionate about his work, he happily accepted this and immediately grabbed his equipment and headed down to the finish line and the festival grounds. Then our volunteers arrived one by one.
After all the runners were finished in two hours, we spent some more time together. We took pictures, shared memories, and went downstairs for ice cream. Then, around noon, we boarded the buses and headed back to our hotel.
A picture we took with some of our volunteers after the run
We bade each other farewell at the hotel, and with the satisfaction of having fulfilled our duty, I went back to my room and took a shower. Afterward, I called my army buddy, Ozan. Ozan, who lives in Antalya, came with his daughter and picked me up from the hotel. We went out for a fish dinner together.
Step by step towards the Support Market goal
We ate some wonderful fish overlooking the cliffs in Antalya. I was in high spirits. I tried not to think about anything until we landed in Istanbul, enjoying the remaining hours in Antalya.
The weekend of Runatolia felt like a true carnival. The cause was beautiful, the people were beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and the atmosphere was beautiful. What more could I ask for?
I wish I could raise enough funds for the Support Market to open in Bağcılar. Our campaign, which had started well, needed to accelerate after the run to meet our goals. With 150 volunteers, we were able to raise approximately 120,000 TL at the Istanbul Marathon. For our 22 volunteers who launched a campaign in Runatolia, 50,000 TL was a lofty goal. However, for the 22 TIDER residents who poured their hearts into it, it was not impossible.
See you in my next article, where I’ll cover this topic.
Stay well.
Tag: excursion
