Istanbul, Part 2

Sunday morning we woke up and headed out for the Eurasia marathon. Fred and I were signed up to run the 15k (9.3 miles). We ran across one of two bridges that span the Bosphorus, from Asia to Europe. This experience will go down as one of the top ten coolest things I've ever done. Over 100,000 people participate in this race and the city virtually shuts down. Getting to run next to my best friend was beyond amazing. He let me pick the pace. It must be love.  

 It is important to note that Dan and his family also participated in the 8k fun run. I think Zeke might be hooked!

This is kind of a Where's Waldo picture.  Can you find us?!?  Did I mention there were a lot of people participating?!?

Okay, see the blue globe thing?  To the right of that you will see Fred's yellow buff (Aunt Jemima) hat and my blue Memphis hat is right next to him.  Coincidentally, that Memphis hat has seen a lot of races.  Now it can add two continents to its list.  We met six Americans while running: four from Texas and two from Boston.  It was neat to see how your ears pick up English when other languages are being spoken all around you.  

Before the race began, they played the Turkish National Anthem.  Everyone around us was singing...loudly.  It made me smile.  Shortly after that we were ready to video and caught another song.  The video does not capture the excitement well, but everyone (except us) was singing in another language.  Good times.  

Once the race was completed we met up with Dan, Tami and family for a little lunch. Then Tami and I made the trek to get Kaiyah. Boy, was I thankful for Tami during these rides on public transportation!! Mercy. I have never seen so many people crammed on such tight spaces. Tami kept laughing at me. I think it was my facial expressions. We went from bus to metro to subway to walk to bus to walk. Please keep in mind that I had just run 9.3 miles. One way to get Kaiyah (in the same city with traffic) took 1 1/2 hours. The trip home took just the same. By the time we got home I was limping and laughing at myself.  For someone who really likes her personal space these bits on public transportation really were...what shall I call it...exciting.