On 5th September, KTLN told you about the Lycian Way Ultra Marathon, which was due to skirt round Kalkan.

Well, the runners set off from Ölüdeniz on Monday morning, and last night (Tuesday), they ended their day at Firnaz Bay, close to Kalkan.

KTLN went along last night to get the inside track, and to meet the sole British runner, James Winrow.

A challenging schedule
Twenty seven competitors started this epic journey, along what must be one of the most beautiful walking routes in the world - the Lycian Way.

Over a 7 day period, they will cover about half of the 500km route.  They have one rest day, which means that they will be covering roughly 40km on each of their 6 active days.

If you have ever walked on the Lycian Way, (something we highly recommend, by the way), you will appreciate just how hard these athletes are working. 

Walking 40km on a road would be quite a challenge, but imagine running it, up and down mountains, with many rock-strewn paths, and in the direct heat of the sun, when temperatures in the shade are in the low 30s.

Freeze dried rations
On top of all that, you can only eat the food that you carry.  Whatever is in your rucksack at the start of the journey, will have to see you through the whole week.  Most of the competitors started out with about 10kg of freeze dried food, to which they can add water as they go along.

When we turned up at their camp site at 8.30pm last night, there was a wonderful smell of food wafting around.  This traditional Turkish cuisine was for the 70 or so support staff, accompanying the runners.  It must have taken quite some willpower for the runners to stay away from the food tent. 

They probably chose Firnaz Bay rather than Kalkan itself, because to put them so close to so many fantastic eating places, would have been just too cruel.

James Winrow - the sole British runner
We met the only British person in the race, James Winrow, a designer and writer from Eastbourne.  It's his first time to Turkey, and it's proving to be a memorable experience. 

James has agreed to write an article for the Monarch airlines in-flight magazine, about his week long journey.  We are not sure when it will be published, (maybe in time for the 2012 season), but look out for it.

KTLN can give you a quick insight into how James has found it so far.  He is clearly a fit young man, and he is quite happy running up and down mountains, (although there are not too many around Eastbourne, it has to be said). 

However, today, (Tuesday), has been particularly grueling.  They set off from a village close to Sidyma, and their route took them along 7km of Patara beach.

Now it all looks lovely if you are Dudley Moore running in slow motion towards Bo Derek, as in the 1979 film '10', but when you have a rucksack on your back, and you have already run three and a half kilometres on energy sapping sand, in energy sapping heat, and you have just as far to go again, it's not quite the same.

James confessed that he was suffering from a niggling achilles tendon, and he was hoping that a good night's rest would help matters. 

Bed time for James was about 9.30pm, with the group due to head off towards Kaş at 6.30am on Wednesday morning, by Jeep. 

The support crew
We left James, enjoying his supper of reconstituted freeze dried food in a bag, whilst we headed off, with more than a twinge of guilt, to share a more traditional Turkish supper with the support crew.

The team includes the organisers, logistics staff, medical personnel and the all important cooks.  It's quite a caravan, with several Jeeps, lorries, porta-loos, and a well equipped ambulance. 

The participants have each parted with 1,000 euros for the pleasure of running this marathon, and the support crew are clearly well organised, and doing a great job.

The Mayors of Yeşilköy and Kalkan turned out to welcome them, and give them encouragement.  They are pictured far left, and second left on this photo. 

The route today on Wednesday is from Kaş to Üçağız (Kekova).  It's a fantastic part of the Lycian Way - if only they had time to stop and enjoy the view!

Check on progress
We wished James luck, and suggested that he should return to Kalkan one day, and enjoy this wonderful part of the world at a more leisurely pace.  He told us that he has been blown away by the beauty of the countryside, and he does indeed intend to return.

You can keep track of how James and all the other competitors are doing, by checking this link to the official web site: Lycian Way Ultra Marathon 2011 - Rankings

Kalkan Walking Group
For those interested in the more sedate pursuit of walking the Lycian Way, the good news is that walks are about to start again - probably in October. 

If you wish to contact the organisers, to find out more about the walking group, click on this link: Kalkan Walking Group
 

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