Speaking at the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon publicity meeting to be run on Sunday, November 6, İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu“We will work together to bring this unique organization to a much better place in the world. We want it to be the most prestigious marathon in the world. We are ready to cooperate with every institution for this effort.” In the race, which is the only intercontinental marathon in the world, a total of 15 thousand athletes will take the course in 42 kilometers and 30 kilometers. Approximately 8 thousand people are expected to participate in the 30-kilometer public run.
A press conference was held to promote the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon, which will be run for the 44th time this year. For the race to be run on Sunday, November 6, at the event held in Fişekhane in Zeytinburnu, respectively; Spor Istanbul A.S. General Manager Renay Onur, Aktif Bank General Manager Ayşegül Adaca, Turkish Athletics Federation Deputy President Mustafa Yasintaş and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlu made a speech. In his speech, İmamoğlu commemorated Halit Kıvanç, the veteran names of Turkish sports, and the late Kenan Onuk, who passed away yesterday and said, “Some people do their jobs differently, they make a difference, and those people truly become brands with the difference they create and they will never be forgotten.”
“3 students staying in IMM dormitories will serve in the marathon”
Sharing the knowledge that approximately 3000 thousand students staying in IMM dormitories will also serve as “volunteers” in this year's marathon, İmamoğlu said, “When I said, 'Be our volunteers and especially participate in the marathon', their eyes sparkled with excitement. Let me also state that we have such a mass, and that we will grow it even more next year.” Emphasizing that Istanbul is a city that is difficult to define geographically and culturally, İmamoğlu said, “With its strong history from the past and its character that looks to the future with hope, Istanbul also builds a strong bridge between the past and the future, on behalf of the world. In this regard, I would like to remind once again how effective every voice that comes out of this will be in the world.” "I know that sports represent not only struggle but also respect, team play, and the spirit of achieving better," said İmamoğlu. That's why I would like to remind you that our goal of bringing the Olympics to Istanbul is a struggle, a marathon, that our 16 million people, even our country and its people will fight together. We are just at the beginning of the road, but I want you to know when we are a team that acts professionally and takes strong steps in taking very systematic and correct steps”.
“This marathon has proven its worth all over the world”
Pointing out that the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon is one of the symbols of this struggle, İmamoğlu said, “Because it is the only marathon in the world to be run between continents, it is also a race that has an organizational power that can run even in a pandemic with its professionalism and meticulous work. It is important that the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon will be run for the 44th time on Sunday, November 6th. It is now a traditional race and has a special place in the world. It is our responsibility to carry this marathon, which has proven its worth all over the world, to the next years in the strongest way and to ensure that it is at the top level in its category. It is important to organize such continuous, major international sporting events and to both prove and improve our organizational skills, but also in terms of gaining more experience.”
“We offer sports opportunities to 95 thousand children at İBB sports schools”
Noting that a society engaged in sports will be a healthy, peaceful, happy and successful society, İmamoğlu gave examples of the work they have done since the day they took office. Emphasizing that they aim to increase the number of licensed athletes in the city, İmamoğlu said:
“We are implementing many projects in this regard. We offer sports opportunities to 95 thousand children in sports schools. We introduce them to the possibilities of the Metropolitan Municipality. We capture the talents of our children, who are educated in 17 different branches, and recruit them or establish ties with some sports clubs. It is very important that 100 of our 75 children say for the first time in their lives that our Metropolitan Municipality is doing sports in these sports schools. It means that we have to be very sensitive and meticulous. With our 'Star Athlete Screening Project', we give direction to our children who are likely to progress on the professional path. Our biggest dream is that our children, whom we introduce to this sport, will be on the medal podium at the Olympics in the future or to watch them in competitions. I wish success to our children in sports schools who are already preparing for this journey.”
“We want it to be the most prestigious marathon in the world”
Saying, “We will work together to bring this unique organization to a much better place in the world,” İmamoğlu said, “We want it to be the most prestigious marathon in the world. We are ready to cooperate with any institution for this effort. And we have an effort to bring a sibling with us. We are working on it too. Again, we are working hard on an intercontinental bicycle journey. We wish to share this with the people of Istanbul very soon, and to announce this to Turkey. I wish success to all our athletes who will already participate in the marathon," he said.
Onur: “We made Istanbulites take 6 billion steps”
Underlining that they try to make sports and exercise a habit in the lives of Istanbuls, Spor Istanbul A.Ş. General Manager Renay Onur also shared the following information in his speech:
“We increased the number of our facilities from 42 to 65. As of the end of September, our 425 thousand members using our facilities have done sports 6,5 million times. This was the figure reached for the whole year in 2019. We have now reached 6,5 million as of the end of September. By the end of the year, our target is to increase this figure to 10 million. The 'Yürü be İstanbul' mobile application, which we took the first step of in 2019 with the dream of our President, is also going quite successfully with nearly 170 downloads. To date, we have made Istanbul residents take 6 billion steps. I invite all Istanbulites to download the 'Walk Istanbul' application and win prizes by walking together on November 6, with a special task setup for the Public Run to be held at the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon. And also; We have transformed Istanbul's parks, gardens, squares, beaches and even City Lines into facilities. Now we look at every place as a facility. Every day of the week, we bring physical activity to Istanbulites at nearly 220 points and make them exercise outdoors. While the number of outdoor exercises was 30 in the pandemic, we have now increased to 220.”
T-shirts for athletes introduced
After the speeches, 4 different T-shirts to be used by the competitors running in different categories of N Kolay Istanbul Marathon were introduced. N Kolay Istanbul Marathon, which is in the World Athletics Elite Label Category, will be run for the 6th time on Sunday, November 44th. In the race, which is the only intercontinental marathon in the world, a total of 15 thousand athletes will take the course in 42 kilometers and 30 kilometers. Approximately 8 thousand people are expected to participate in the 30-kilometer public run. A total of 200 skaters, including German Skating National Team athlete Sebastian Mirsch, will sweat in the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon.
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