Ever since 2015 we time 2 big events in Istanbul: the 1/2 Marathon in April and the Full Marathon in November. With a combined number of runners that is well over 100.000 people this is a very big event indeed!

The local organization is called Spor Istanbul and they have bought 28 IPICO Elite readers from us to be able to time those events and a number of smaller events throughout the year. Most of these events are done with their own operatos, but for the biggest 2 events the like us to be present and provide expertise. With both event labeled as “IAAF Gold level races” that is a logical choice.

It takes 5 people about 1/2 week to prepare for the event locally. We check all equipment (laptops, readers, mats), update software, change batteries, train locals … all to make sure we run perfectly on race day!

We also provide a liaison for Turkish media, since bot events have live coverage and we need to provide the LOC and press with official results as soon as possible. The 2017 Edition of the full marathon is expected to have approx. 42.000 runners (for the marathon, 15K and 10K combined) and probably over 100.000 funrunners on the 6K run. The reason this is so big? It is the only race that starts in Asia and finishes in Europe!