“Hedefim Türkiye’de yürümek” "My target is to walk in Türkiye" 13
Eylül/September 2012, Istanbul
"Pakistan
doğumlu KKTC vatandaşı 57 yaşındaki Ahmet Abdülaziz, Türkiye’de Adana-Ankara
arasını yürüyerek kat etmek için sponsor arıyor. Lefkoşa’dan Girne’ye üç
saatte, Lefkoşa’dan Güzelyurt’a beş saatte aralıksız yürüyerek ulaşan
Abdülaziz, Karpaz dışında adada birçok yere yürüyerek ve koşarak
ulaşıyor.." Kıbrıs Gazetesi'nde yayınlanan bu yazının devamı için resme
tıklayınız. Mr.Ahmet Abdülaziz says, "A news item about myself
today published in the largest circula ted newspaper of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus. The news item particularly mentions my plan to jog/walk for a
total distance of about 400km, from the city of Adana to Ankara in Turkiye. I
am looking for some sponsor to finance this..." Click picture to read full
article (in Turkish) of "Kibris Gazetesi"
Crossing Northern Cyprus from east to west had been in my mind for quite sometime. Although i had been through all this area, but in parts, and on varying dates. But this time i decided to do it one go.
The most suitable time from my point was the 26th October, the second day of Bayram (Eid).
Earlier i had spoken to my ex-employers to sponsor my this run/walk. They had agreed, and provided me with two T Shirts, having monogram and message from their company, plus a small amount in cash to meet the expenses. I was too happy because this was going to be my first sponsored walk.
I waited eagerly for the day to come.
On the morning of 26th October , i woke up at about 4am, did my early morning exercises, changed clothes, and got ready to go to Gazimağusa (Famagusta), which is about 65km from my residence, to start my run for the day.
The cousin of my wife was kind enough to take me to Gazimağusa, in his car. We set off at around 5am. It took us more than an hour to reach there.
It was totally dark. I got out of the car. Not a single soul was there. Weather was somewhat cool, but i did know that the day was going to be hot. I took a final control of things that i would be carrying with me....
Two small bottles of water
My camera
My mobile phone
2 small packets of biscuits
3 small pieces of patties that my wife had made a day before
One set of additional socks
My sun glasses
my cap (provided by the sponsors with their monogram on it)
a small amount of money
3 pieces of small adhesive medical bandage ,for bruises
I started off at about 6.30am. The weather was a bit cool, but no breeze. It was all dark, the roadside lamps were lit. I looked at the long long road in front of me. My cousin said goodbye to me, and drove back. I looked at the outgoing red lights of his ongoing car. I had had to take the same course..........65km ... on foot.
I started off running, but instantly realised that my running may attract stray dogs. So i continued walking. Luckily i did not meet any dog on they way. After about quarter an hour, the initial rays of sun started coming up. I started running. I felt my nose running. It was still a bit cold. However, i enjoyed my running. With the water bottles in both the hands, i had inserted my sunglasses, cap and the socks on sides of my shorts. The biscuits etc and the camera , packed in a plastic bag,were again inserted in the back side of my shorts, My shorts was like a small store room.
It was a long long run , with short walking spurts now and then. I enjoyed a lot.The scenery was nice. Some vehicles had started showing up on the road. Yet it was a calm and quite beginning of a holiday.
I reached DORTYOL (about 17km from my starting point) without any difficulty. According to my initial plan, i was supposed to take the first rest there, because it was a small village. However, i did not stop there, and continued running. I had started feeling the heat on my neck, as the sun was rising behind my back. I took out the cap and wore it in reverse, so that i would get some shade on my back. But the road was waving now and then. I had had to change the direction of the front of my cap now and then. Yet it was funny. I was in high spirits. Still a long long way was ahead.
The weather started getting hot. I did know that.
The number of passing vehicles, had started growing a bit more with the passage of time. Some of them slowed down their speed to look and to read the message written on my T Shirt.
As the weather started heating up, i started walking more and running less. I did not want to get tired, because not only i had had to keep on going the whole day, but would have to continue going the next day too.
I took the first rest of about 10 minutes at PIRHAN (about 20km from the starting point). There was a roadside board. I chose to sat under its shade, which was luckily on the pavement. I ate one patties and a took a couple of sips pf water.
The good and point of my fitness is that i usually sweat very less. Due to this i do not need to drink more water , while running. But i do sweat a lot, when i sit, after finishing the run/walk. Perhaps one of the reasons is that i do start walking as soon as i start feeling a bit heated up by running.
My stock of two small waters remained almost intact. But i did have to carry that weight while running, because i never wanted to take any risk at all.
My next stop came at ASLANKOY (about 35km from my starting point). This time i rested for over 20 minutes. I ate the remaining 2 patties, and finished my first bottle of water. Throwing the empty water bottle reduced 50% of the weight that i was carrying in my hand. But that disbalanced my hands. So i took my camera and mobile phone in one hand and the second water bottle 'n the other/
My long long walk. restarted. The weather was quite too hot, yet i had not felt much tiredness.
Most of the passebys were either waving me hands or blowing their horns. It was quite a heavy traffic heading for Magusa from Lefkosa. It was the second day of the Bayram (Eid) , so every one was going to visit their relatives.
It was going to be a nice walk, although at times i was running also, because in my mind i was calculating the distance left to be finished by end of the day. I did not want to reach Lefkosa at night. According to my rough calculation i was supposed to reach Lefkosa at around 5pm.
The next milestone on the road was the overhead bridgecrossings one of which was turning towards the Ercan airport. Around 20 kilometres were yet to be finished. But i was hungry. The ERulku supermarket was just a few kilometres away from that point. I stopped there and treated myself with a nice food and soft drink. I found a suitable place to lie down, under the shade of the two huge water tanks parked by the side of the market. It was all small stones, but i decided to take a nap there. I slept, instantly. A nice sleep of around half an hour, recharged me for the last leg of the day`s run.
Almost fresh , i wanted to pick up the speed, but the open place by the side of the road, where i was running previouslty, was no more paved one. It was all filled with small stones, which were hurting my feet. The evening traffic was increasing, so there was no chance for me to run on the road.
But that was not all, my shoe had started hurting my small fingers. It was my relatively new shoe, and it was my mistake that i had not used it much. There was no chance for me but to continue walking on the path, that was hurting my feet too much. Suddenly a long thorn, pierced through my right feet. It hurt me badly. I stopped and took my shoe off. My feet was bleeding. I rested till the bleeding stopped. The small fingers of both of my fingers were badly bruised. I put the emergency bandages on them. Lefkosa was still about 15kilometres away. I had had to walk. No way out.
I reached the outskirts of the city at around 5pm. The office of the SUNDAYTIMES is on the main road. The reporter ANNE CANALP had already asked me a day earlier to call her when i reach there. She met me there, took some photographs. It was a short hurriedly taken interview, particularly because the camera man of GENCTV was waiting for me on the other side of the road. I went to them too, to be interviewed.
I reached home around a quarter to 6pm.
I had had to take rest, to be ready for the next day 40km run/walk, from Lefkosa to Guzelyurt.
I woke up a bit late, the next morning. I was due to finish the east to west crossing of the island today. 40 more kilometres westward, were going to finish it.
Instead of starting off at the planned time of 6am, i took the road at quarter to 7. The weather was fine. I had bandaged my three feet fingers. Off i went, with my usual jogging speed.
The day started becoming hot as the time passed, but i was in high spirits. I was going to reach a milestone of my running life. As per my technique the previous day, i ran a lot, before it became too hot. Swiftly i passed Alaykoy and then Zet Engineering. It was about 16km from Lefkosa.
I continued my walk/run , without much difficulty. The road was smooth. I always enjoyed on this road. Long long road, waving past the small hills. I liked the scenery. I took some photographs.
I took the first break after crossing about 20km mark. I sat on a large stone, by the side of the road. But there were no shady tree around. I used my cap to shade my face, drank a little water.
The orange gardens came in view a little later. That was the best part of my run. Although the new crop still need more than a month to be ready, but i managed to find two oranges, that could be eaten. That was a big treat for me. I ate both of them while walking.
I took another rest of about 15 minutes just about 10km before my final destination. I had found an another orange on a tree, and decided to sit and eat. There was a nice plain downwards. I sat on the ground and ate the orange. I decided ti lie down and take a ten minutes rest, with closed eyes.
The next ten kilometres were just an easy walk.
I reached my final destination , Guzelyurt city, at around 1300 (1 pm).
It was a big day in my life.
For the first time i had crossed the island from east to west. The total distance was 105km and i took 17 hours of walk/run. I enjoyed that.
A close friend of mine Shaji Ahmed , lives in Değirmenlik. It is a small village on the northern side of the Lefkoşa-Famagusta road. It is 18 km from lefkoşa.
Today i decided to visit him. Ofcourse on foot.
I started off at 6.30am in the morning. The weather was fine, a bit cold. I continued the routine running/walking spree.I continued moving ahead towards Famagusta, the eastern part of the northern cyprus. The road was straight and i enjoyed running towards the rising sun. It was a wonderful to see sun rising.
At 9 AM i reached the point on the highway, from where i would be turning north to reach the destination, which was about 3km from that point. My friend had decided to walk from the village to the highway point, with his school going daughter. They had travelled 3 km on foot, just to receive me on the main highway. For them , it was a good opportunity for them to go out for a walk.
We reached the village in an hour time. With the famous five fingers mountains in front of us, we enjoyed our walking through the spinning roads of the village. There were lots of olive trees on the way, alongwith other fruit trees.
The breakfast was ready. It was nice. I enjoyed.
For about two hours we continued chatting.
I left off for home at about 11 AM. It was very hot. I had decided not to run. It was a long journey. I reached home in 3 hours.
I am preparing myself for my 65km walk/run on 26th october. On that day i will not be having much time to rest on the way. So i am preparing myself to walk under sun.
After quite a long break, i am back in action. It was a break of more than two months. I had stopped running, although i continued walking daily. First it was the month of ramazan, then, i had had some uegent works in istanbul, then some urgent work in office made me sit late there including working on week ends.
In short i could not give the needed time to running.
But now i am back in action. I am concentrating more on running. But it is not easy. The weather has changed. The days are shorter now. But that is not all. Today i had planned a 3 hours (around 20km run/walk) in the evening, but it started raining heavily just as i was getting prepared to start. Unfortunately, i had had to cancel my plan.
I did run /walk for about an hour today morning. It was slightly cold, but pleasant. I liked that.
I did like my 80km run/walk episode from Lefkoşa/Güzelyurt and back, a couple of weeks back. I wanted to redo that this sunday. But unfortunately some urgent work came up, so there was no chance for me to remain out of home the whole day.
So i changed my programme. I planned to go out early in the morning, for 26km from Lefkoşa to Alayköy (a few kilometres beyond the village of Alayköy) and back. I wanted to repeat the same in the evening too, to make it a total of 52km in a day.
So i tried to start off early in the morning, because the temperature was due to shoot up during the day. But even i could not start it early. I was on the road at 6am, already an hour behind schedule.
A nice lovely morning that was. I kept on moving ahead very smoothly. I met a couple of bicycle enthusiasts on the road, waving hands to me. In fact, i do meet the cyclists on the road, wherever i go. That shows that competitive cycling is quite popular in Northern Cyprus.
Since i was running second time on the same route, so i was feeling myself at ease.
It was a flat run for quite long distance, as the weather was somewhat cool, the sun was rising on my back.
But once i reached the planned destinatioın, and turned back towards Lefkoşa, i felt the heat of the sun right on my face. It was around 8am, but the heat could be felt on the face. I was wearing my black glasses. I angled the front part of my hat, to have more shadow on my face. But heat was on the rise.
I continued the same route, which i had almost learnt by heart. However this time i had made a small but important change in my technique. In order the minimise the load to be carried, i had left my water bottle, at a shaded place, while going ahead. I picked up the bottle from the same spot, on my way back. Thus i managed not to carry the weight of the bottle for around 10km.
I kept on moving ahead, despite the heat. There was no wind, no clouds, just plain sky and the sun, which was fast going up, in my face. There was no other way for me. Move move and move ahead, so i kept on moving ahead.
I reached home back at 9am. It was 26km in 30 hours. Not a poor performance indeed.
I wanted to repeat the same in evening too,but unfortunately as i was getting ready at around 5.30pm, some guests arrived. So i had had to change my plan. I stayed at home with them. So there was no run in the evening.
The result of the day ...........26km in 180 minutes.
My original plan for this sunday (3rd june 2012) was to go running/walking towards east, to the port city of Gazimağusa (Famagusta). It is at a distance of around 60km from Lefkoşa (Northern Nicosia) where i live.
But the family veto came into my way. They wanted to go out for picnic to a picnic spot which is around 14km from my house. I agreed to their plan. However, i had thought of going there and also returning from there on foot. Since it was sunday so the picnic was planned for noon. That made things a bit difficult for me, because the weather was too hot.
However, i tried to look at the positive side of the situation. It was going to give me a chance to test myself, under difficult condition, under the burning sun, at noon time. Prior to today i had never run at noon time.
I started off from home at 10.30am.
(Just ready to go out for 10km ,in front of my house at 10.30am. My son took these photos for me)
As usual i walked for 2km to reach the main highway. By the time i reached there, i had already realised that it would not be going to be an easy adventure. It was damn too hot.
I started walking north. It would be 10km straight walk on the highway, then a steep climbing for over 2km, to reach the picnic spot. I had already dropped the idea of running. I had decided to walk.
I looked at my watch. In the first hour i had gone for 5km. A performance much below the previous level of previous ones. But i did not want to risk more by running under that scorching heat. However, i decided to run a bit on the patches of the road, where it was going downhill. But even that was not sufficient. The heat was taking its toll. I was walking more and runnign very less.
But as always i was committed to reach my destination. It was around noon when i had finished the first 12km, and reached the bottom of the mountains. From there it was going to be a steep climbing for almost 2 kilometres.
The total distance of two marathons is approximately 85km. This sunday, 27th May, 2012, İ covered a total distance of 80km , running and walking.
Güzelyurt is a city (Old name MORPHOU), located in far western corner of North Cyprus. It is a distance of 40km from Lefkoşa (North NICOSIA). I live in Lefkoşa. I planned to visit Güzelyurt this sunday, running and walking.
It was my first time that i would be running on the road linking the two cities. I had been there quite a few many times by car.But this time i wanted to go there running and walking. The distance was 40km, and the road and the route was totally new to me, so i had not made any plan for returning back from there again walking/running. I had left this issue, to be decided once i reach there.
(5.30am i started off for the 40km run. This is the lane just behind my residence)
I started off early in the morning, because the weather was going to be too hot, during the day time. According to my initial estimate i would be taking atleast 6 hours to reach there.So i started off early in the morning. It was 5,30am, when i came out on the road, and started walking towards the main highway, approximately at the distance of 2km from my residence. The weather was clear. No clouds. Just a bit cool in the early hours of the morning. I wanted to cover as much distance as i could during the early hours, when the weather is cool.
But i could not start running outrightly. I usually walk 2km atleast, to adjust myself.
I tried to walk at my usual speed, and reached the main highway, from where i had had to turn left (west) towards Güzelyurt (Morphou).
(The signboard showing the way left towards Güzelyurt)
With sun dawning on my back, i started running westward. There was no traffic. It was too early for a sunday morning traffic. Here or there i found some people pacing for an early morning walk. In a short span of time, i found my rhythm, and picked up pace. A long long, unending road was in front of me. I had been through the same road quite a many times. One by one the known buildings continued passing me, on right and left side of the road.
I started feeling heat, at around 8am. Long long road was ahead of me. Some traffic had started passing by.
The sight of the oranges farms , was the first indication that the Guzelyurt was near. Almost the oranges had been plucked, yet some left over were there on the trees, perhaps waiting for someone like me. I did not leave any chance, and instantly put my hands on two of them. They were quite tasty. I took two more. I felt as if i had found again some of my lost energy. I picked up speed.
I stopped at a petrol pump, and washed my face. I asked the boy there, about how much distance left to Güzelyurt. His answer was 4 or 5km. I looked at my watch. I was ahead of my schedule. That made me too happy. It was about 10am. I was on the road for about 4.30 hours.
I entered the city of Güzelyurt at about 10.30am. It was quite a good performance. 40km in 5 hours.
(I turned left from the main chember to enter the city of Güzelyurt.....lovely flowers)
I reached the main bus stop. I had planned to take rest there. I had expected some restarurants etc and some place where i could takesome rest.
It was a large round waiting hall. There were chairs, but no benches. Nobody was in. I went out the back side. There was a small bufe there. Passengers were seated there, waiting for their buses.
I took a cup of tea and returned to main waiting lounge. I put an another chair in front of me, took off my shoes, and tried to make myself comfortable on the chair. I looked at my feet. The burning sun had made its mark, the colour difference of my skin was evident as i lowered down my socks.
I closed my eyes and dosed in somewhat uncomfortable condition. Passengers were passing through the main door and crossing to the other side where the buses were parked. I do not know how long did i sleep. When awoke i went out and took something to eat.
I padded myself up once again at about 2pm. I had taken my decision. I would be going back to Lefkoşa again running/walking. The very idea of completing 80km in a day, had really given me a new strength. I asked my legs," ARE YOU READY FOR 80KM İN A DAY,". The reply was YESSSSSSSS. I had already covered 40km that morning, and now was going ahead for an another 40km. I took off at 2,30pm.
It was quite hot outside. I did know that it would not be too easy. But with renewed determination, i started off. As usual i had taken a bottle of water with me. This proved to be a very costly mistake. I should have taken two instead of one water bottle.
I preferred to walk more, instead of running. I wanted to save my energy to run when the weather becomes somewhat cooler, in the evening. I saw some clouds on far far east, in front of me, but too far. I thought that it would be too better for me if those clouds come faster towards me. But it was just a hope, which ultimately proved senseless.
I was walking, the long long barren road was ahead of me. A couple of more kilometres. I passed through the petrol station. I decided to take a short break, and washed my face. I went off. The same gardens of oranges passed, but i was still in the beginning part of my marathon, so there was no need to stop and eat oranges. I continued.
I covered around 10km when i started feeling hungry. I sat in the shade of a sign board, and ate my packet of biscuits. I drank some water. I looked at the bottle. I realised my mistake. I must have taken two bottles. But it was too late. I did know that it was a new road, and there was no village in the way. There was only one petrol pump on the road, and that had already passed. I had had no other choice to keep on going.
I started feeling burning heat on back side of my neck. The hat that i was wearing was not large enough to save my neck from heat. I recalled the famous film BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, where the commander of the British forces and some of soldiers had put a piece of cloth attached to back side of their caps to save their neck from the heat. I had seen the same in some other movies also. BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
I found a piece of white paper on side of the road. Somebody had thrown it. I could see lots of ants on it, because the paper was earlier used to cover some eatable. Part of the paper was stained with oil. I cleared the paper off the ants, and adjusted it under my hat, in a way that almost whole of the backside of my neck was covered by it. I had successfully found the way out to save my back from burning
But the biggest problem was that i was thirsty, and there was no way out to solve that. I was not running at all, just walking, but still thirsty. There was no village or shop or petrol station on the way.
I continued. Still half bottle was filled with water, but i was not going to finish it unless i get an another water. I took some very small sips of water, and kept on going.
I looked at my watch, i was much behind my schedule. It was 7.30. According to my performance in the evening, bu that time i must have been at home. But Lefkoşa was still more than 5km away. I stopped. I decided to take rest. I was too tired. My whole body was being effected by thirst.
But that was not all. By half way, i had checked that both of my socks had had big holes. It was not so in the morning. 80km were perhaps too much for them. The torn pieces of the socks had started troubling the bottom of my feet. I had realised that there were quite some water balls under the skin. But i had had to keep on moving. My speed had dropped. But i was continuing.
I found water in the first petrol pump that i found , around 5km away from Lefkoşa. I drank the whole bottle. Bought an another one for the remaining 5km.
The rest was just normal. Due to problems in the bottom of my feet, the whole of my leg had developed pain. I kept on walking.
I reached home at quarter to 9pm. I had finished these 40km in over 6 hours.
But the overall result was superb. Two marathons means approximately 85km. I had covered 80km in a day. Very fantastic and morale boosting performance from my point of view.
www.maratonturk.com 
