Marathon #176 (country #36): Runtalya Marathon, Antalya, Turkey

3:48 finish, 86/243 place overall. Scenic race based in Antalya, a popular resort city on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. Nice views of the coast and mountains as well as the downtown historic area. It’s a fairly large event that has a a big city race atmosphere in the beginning, but that’s mainly because of the shorter distance races. Once the half marathon splits off, there are only a few hundred marathoners and it’s much more spread out. A few minor hills and a little warm towards the end, but mostly good conditions. Decent finish time within my usual range.

Race map and details

Photos will be posted soon.

Upcoming Marathons

5/3/26: Marathon #177: Colorado Marathon, Fort Collins, CO

6/20/26: Marathon #178 (second round state #44): Grandma's Marathon, Duluth, MN

7/4/26: Marathon #179 (country #37): Samoa International Marathon, Apia, Samoa

7/19/26: Marathon #180 (country #38): SCORE Marathon, Putrajaya, Malaysia

9/13/26: Marathon #181 (second round state #45): Sundance to Spearfish Marathon, SD

Marathon #175 (country #35): Lost City Marathon, Palenque, Mexico

6:33 finish, 24/38 place overall.

Very unique and scenic but brutally hard race centered around the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque (the “lost city”) in the jungle of southeastern Mexico.

The first couple of miles are on trails and stairs through the ruins themselves - nice scenery but lots of walking. After leaving the ruins, most of the marathon is on very hilly dirt roads past farms and through small rural villages. Mixed in there is a four kilometer section on narrow trails that is insanely steep and muddy with several river crossings. There is very little running in that section and the main goal is just to get through it without spraining an ankle or getting bitten by a snake. Once back on the dirt roads, the steep hills and extreme heat make it very hard to run fast if at all. The final few miles are less hilly but have almost no shade and temperatures by that point in the low 90s - lots of on and off walking just to avoid complete heat exhaustion.

This was my second hardest and slowest standard marathon ever, aside from Pikes Peak in 2011, and by far the hottest. Interesting challenge but glad to be done with it.

Race map and details

Photos