Special Guests For İsmail Akçay

İsmail Akçay Road Race will be staged on 10 September. The event will host two surviving medalists of 1968 Mexico Olympics who finished the marathon ahead of Akçay.

Organised since 2009 in the name of the legendary Turkish marathoner, İsmail Akçay Road Race will welcome the Japanese Kenji Kimihara and Mike Ryan of New Zealand who crossed the finish line in Mexico second and third respectively, where Akçay became fourth to just miss a medal. Maintaining a long distance friendship ever since, the three will meet up in Balıkesir. Under the demanding conditions in Mexico, 57 of the 83 registered athletes could make it to the finish line, where İsmail Akçay arrived in 2:25:18.8 behind Kimihara and Ryan. The marathon champion of Mexico 1968, Ethiopian Mamo Wolde, passed away at the age of 70 in 2002.

İsmail Akçay Road Race will be run over a distance of 12km. The entries are open until 12:30 on Saturday, 9 September. Further information and entry links can be reached via the official website of the Turkish Athletic Federation at www.taf.org.tr.

Timing services at the İsmail Akçay Road Race will be provided by Depar Timing. Official results will be posted on this website shortly after the race.