Cumhuriyet Run on the Osman Gazi Bridge to Become a Tradition

Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, together with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the governorships of Kocaeli and Yalova, the Turkish Athletics Federation and Bilişim Vadisi, will organize the Republic Run. The race will include a 10-kilometer elite run and a 5-kilometer public run. About 8,000 people have applied, and athletes from 19 countries will compete.

The run, which connects the two shores of the Gulf of İzmit, is scheduled for October 29, Republic Day. Kocaeli Metropolitan Mayor Tahir Büyükakın said the Osman Gazi Bridge creates a strong link between the past and the future. Büyükakın said the event will take place in the tenth year since the bridge opened and in the 103rd year of the Republic.

Büyükakın stressed that the run will bring together people from different countries and cultures. He also said the event will reflect the new face of Kocaeli, a city once associated with grey skies, odors and poor environmental conditions. The mayor said the run will be held every year and become a tradition, and may later be named the "Traditional Osmangazi Republic Run."

Büyükakın said the goal is to make the run one of the important races in the world. He added that the municipality follows this approach for all of its sporting events.