The Türkiye İş Bankası 46th Istanbul Marathon, which is among the six largest marathons in Europe and is run in the Gold Label category, started with the start given by Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of the Union of Turkish Municipalities (TBB) and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM). In the giant organization organized by Spor Istanbul, a subsidiary of IMM, in which a total of 9,060 people, 1,500 of whom were volunteers, took part, a total of 47 elite athletes, 31 men and 16 women from 4 continents, changed continents from Asia to Europe to receive a degree. İmamoğlu gave the start of the 42K and 15K races together with his delegation. Wishing success to the 42K runners before the start horn was sounded, İmamoğlu said, “I wish it to be a beautiful race with love, peace and serenity. It has a very special position, especially with half of our citizens and the other half being guests from different parts of the world. Starting the race is easy at first, then it gets harder, but in this marathon, which is like a struggle for life, I applaud you all in advance in your run in this noble sport. I wish you a successful race,” he said. After the 42K start, İmamoğlu, who took a souvenir photo with the participants of the run on behalf of the ‘Büyükt Hayallerini’ project, the idea pioneered by his wife Dr. Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, then started the 15K run. İmamoğlu, who made a short speech before the start horn, said the following: “Istanbul Marathon is a marathon run in the most beautiful geography of the world… Frankly, no matter how bored we are, even if we are in a problematic process; when you are in the Istanbul Marathon, you are in an atmosphere that embraces you with hope. Therefore, we greet you with all our beautiful feelings right now. Marathon is a very noble sport, or rather, the most important, the main element of athletics. We know that you will move through many difficulties as you run this 42,195 meters step by step. The first step is perhaps the easiest… You will struggle in conditions that will become more difficult as time goes by. Not giving up, continuing the struggle, taking precautions to finish that marathon, planning your conditions accordingly, is actually a ground that we can call the philosophy of a person’s life race.” “Those who dare to run this marathon and say I will run it and participate here definitely have a different dimension and a different place in my eyes and heart right now. I congratulate all the ladies and gentlemen who participated. Especially this great marathon race, all our friends who are here this year should know that half of them are our citizens, the other half are our guests from different countries abroad, and it is very valuable for us to evolve into such an international dimension. We will give a special start soon. I wish you all a successful race. May your success in this race be the best motivation for the European Games that we will achieve in Istanbul in 2027, but more importantly, may your race today bring us luck in achieving a tremendous sports excitement that we will host the Olympic and Paralympic games in Istanbul in 2036. Good luck to all. I wish you all the best of luck to reach the start.” After his speech, İmamoğlu, who participated in the marathon, sometimes walked and sometimes ran with his chest number 34. Fulfilling the requests of the runners participating in the race for souvenir photos, İmamoğlu made a short statement to the press members while walking on the July 15 Martyrs Bridge. In his statement, İmamoğlu said, “Today, we are taking the 46th step. The marathon is a very special memory and celebration of Istanbul. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed from the beginning to today. May it be many more years. I hope it will be the 50th year and then the 100th year. I wish that every step taken and run here today will be beautiful steps for our country. First of all, steps of right, law and justice; let them be the steps of a virtuous period, a talented period and a successful period on a global scale. I wish that every strong step turns into a step for the nation. I want us to live as a stepping stone towards a bright future where good feelings are reinforced on behalf of our country, where we run together as a nation, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, where rights and laws are protected, where our children feel safe, our babies feel safe, feel healthy, where young people feed all their hopes for this country and where each of our people find the value they deserve. We are going through the marathon with these feelings. We will soon complete our walk from Anatolia to Thrace; from Asia to Europe,” he said. SUPPORT US FOR THE CONTINUITY OF OUR INDEPENDENT PUBLICATIONS 👇 / @yurttastv #ekremimamoğlu #marathon #istanbul #ibb