theworldjog.com – blog » Blog Archive » Last week in Asia, well almost.

Last week in Asia, well almost.

Last four days: 55,46,40 and today May 28th 50km.
Today was my 43rd day straight without a rest day and am sure without checking it is a record longest stretch of days of the run. Just about 10km short of 2,000km in this period have been run. I can guarantee you I will never run a fifty day stretch ever again in my life, why should I!
Total now is 44,503km for 1,012 road days. I expect to arrive in Istanbul next Wednesday or Thursday, 4th or 5th June. As you can imagine iI am running shattered at the moment.

I starred running Asia almost a year to the day, 1st June 2013 more than 14,000km ago back in Timor Leste/ East Timor. Nine countries in all and by far the most difficult continent, physical, mentally and logistically with all the visa hassles as you are all aware.

Istanbul is almost 400km away from where I am tonight. Thank Allah for that I say!
Ah yes the end of Asia in sight! The permission for running over the Bosporus bridge is still not forthcoming. It is possible I may arrive at the bridge which is about 15km before Turkey’s largest city before I get my permit. I may have to stop at that point for my couple of much needed rest days before I return to continue for the remainder of Turkey, about 280km to Bulgaria and the European Union From there every step to the finish in Merrion Square North will be on EU territory!
I don’t understand why there is so much bureaucracy getting this permit. I know there is a security issue but I have asked to run on the footpath. The bridge is heavily guarded. If necessary I will walk across with one of the guards.
I cannot thank the Irish embassy in Ankara enough for their huge efforts in this regard, in particular Erok. Please see below. I told him he will surely get a mention in the book!

Dear Mr Mangan,

Lots of bureaucracy and procedures are going nearly for a month for this. After lots of departments our letter is at Highways General Directorate of Ministry of Internal in Istanbul. If the permission is given from there, they will write to Security Department Directorate General and they will write to Bosphorous Bridge Security Department. At the same time the same chain will be followed backwards and Protocol Department of Ministry of Foreign affairs will write the official letter of permission to the Embassy. Not to wait all these procedures I will be in touch with Highways DG where the letter is at the moment and will find out if the permission is given and I will let you know before the official letter comes to us. I hope I will get that reply before the weekend.

Kind regards,

Erok Yuksel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:15 pm and is filed under jogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Last week in Asia, well almost.”

kevin scanlon Says:
May 28th, 2014 at 10:27 pm
great update tony. hard to believe the eu is so close. fingers crossed for the bridge crossing. talk soon, kevin
Ann Says:
May 29th, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Hope Erok gets a favourable response about crossing the bridge, you must be exhausted not taking any rest days for so long, take care of yourself -:)
john clarke Says:
May 29th, 2014 at 8:39 pm
i know its a stupid question but if you cant run/walk across bosporus bridge,is it possible to swim across ?
theworldjog Says:
May 30th, 2014 at 5:42 am
Thanks everyone. 48km Thursday.
Yes am very very tired, more that at any stage of the run. Re johns question. It has always been high security. Even when I went through on my bicycle in 1978 I was not Allowed. Today cyclists don’t even discuss it they all just take a ferry across. Can’t help feeling it makes the Turks feel so important. Remember I had a small problem with the Panama Canal bridge which was sorted out with a phone call.
The bridge is over 3km long and I am not a decent swimmer. Don’t think that would be allowed either.
There is another route but I would have had to go way way south in Turkey
I studied it on Google maps and estimated a 200metre swim. Can’t remember name of that town. But I am here now. This was one of the reasons I first hesitated about running Turkey you may remember. My other route was through the Crimea and Russia! I wonder if I had gone that way would I have taken off the road by the Russians, I think so.
I am surprised Turkey is not more open to the west. I need to be careful what I say in blog but am starting to believe current reign is not pro European Union. Perhaps they may prove me wrong.
Tom Smith Says:
June 3rd, 2014 at 5:04 pm
Tony, it was a pleasure to meet you coming the other way the morning you left Hacihamza. I hope you enjoyed the mountains of Turkey – I didn’t know it at the time, but I was just leaving them when we met. I got a picture of the mosque you talked about, and put it on my journal here… http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?pic_id=1920174
Best of luck with the European leg – I will be following!
Tom
theworldjog Says:
June 4th, 2014 at 5:32 am
Hi Tom. Yes it was beautiful, just like rest of Turkeys countryside, so beautiful.
I sent you an email on Christmas morning you may remember. I just recognized your website. Very informative! It was question a about Uzbekistan! Thanks for encouragement. Have a nice trip and keep in touch Tony
Tey EngTiong Says:
June 4th, 2014 at 10:24 am
Tony:

Glad u almost go in Europe,keep it up with strong spirit and run safe !

Tey
Malaysia

since Tony began his World Run on 25th October 2010

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About Tony

I have always considered myself to be an average runner. In school, I was even bullied for I was a sports wimp. Through hard work, dedication, perseverance, self-belief and a strong mind I succeeded in not only running around the world but breaking four ultra running world records during my competitive career. Having previously cycled around the world I didn't start running until I was almost 30. Then I had a dream of running around the world. For many reasons, I waited for over 20 years. One reason was to establish my pedigree as an endurance athlete. I started and finished my world run as the current World Record-Holder for 48 Hours Indoor Track 426 kilometres (265 miles), a record I have held since 2007. I also broke and still hold the World Record for 48 hours on a Treadmill 405 kilometres (251 miles) in 2008. When I retired from competition, more pleasing than any of my world, European or Irish records I had the respect of my fellow athletes from all over the world - in my opinion, sports greatest reward - an achievement I am most proud of. Then I finally put myself out to pasture, to live my ultimate dream to run around the world! This blog was written on the road while I struggled to find places to sleep and to recover from running an average of 43.3 kilometres or 27 miles per day for 1,165 road days. There were many nights I typed this blog on a smart phone, so fatigued my eyes closed. Many journalists and endurance athletes have referred to my world run as the most difficult endurance challenge ever attempted. During my expedition I rarely had any support vehicles, running mostly with a backpack. In the more desolate areas I pushed my gear, food and water in a cart which I called Nirvana, then I sent her on ahead to run with my backpack once again over altitudes of almost 5,000 metres in the Andes. I stayed in remote villages where many people had never seen a white person before. I literally met the most wonderful people of this world in their own backyard and share many of those amazing experiences in this blog. My run around the world took 4 years. There were no short cuts, I ran every single metre on the road while seeking out the most comprehensive route across 41 countries, 5 continents, I used 50 pair of running shoes and my final footstep of the run was exactly 50,000 kilometres, (almost 31,000 miles) I eventually finished this tongue in cheek named world jog where I started, at the finish line of my city marathon. I started my global run with the Dublin Marathon on October 25th 2010 and finished with the Dublin Marathon on October 27th 2014 at 3 05pm! Thank you for your support, I hope you can share my unique way of seeing the world, the ultimate endurance challenge! Read more...