Mahmut Yavuz (born 1982) is a

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces ( tr, ), or Turkish Navy ( tr, ) is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was establi ...

officer, who serves, currently as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, in the SAT Commando (Underwater Attack) unit of the Marines and Special Forces. He is best known for his successful career as an

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

runner and his indistinct fast speech. He holds many records and currently works as a running instructor. Mahmut Yavuz was born in 1982. At the age of 14, he entered the Naval High School on the island

Heybeliada Heybeliada, or Heybeli Ada, is the second largest of the Prince' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbull, Turkey. It is officially a neighbourhood of the Adalar district of Istanbul. Its name, meaning 'with a saddlebag' in Turkish, in ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. After finishing high school, he attended the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality of the province in Istanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coast of Marmara Sea, at the eastern limit of the city. The mayor is Şadi Yazıcı ( AK ...

. He graduated with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in computer engineering. He was commissioned as an officer of the SAT Commando (Underwater Attack) at the Turkish Navy Marines and Special Forces, a similar unit to the

Underwater Demolition Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII func ...

of the United States Navy SEALs. As of November 2013, Yavuz has the rank of a navy lieutenant ( tr, Deniz Yüzbaşısı), and is stationed in Keçilik village at Anadolu Kavağı,

Beykoz Beykoz (), also known as Beicos and Beikos, is a district in Istanbul, Turkey at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name is believed to be a combination of the words bey and ''kos'', which means "village" in Farsi. Bey ...

, Istanbul.

Sports career

Mahmut Yavuz used to perform running sport during high school and academy years, participating in competitions. Following his graduation from the naval academy, he began to run half marathons and marathons. In later years, Yavuz became interested in

ultra running An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

. In 2012, he debuted in ultramarathon running as he took part in the

İznik Ultramarathon İznik Ultramarathon, shortly İznik Ultra, is an international trail running ultramarathon event that takes place at İznik town of Bursa Province in northwestern Turkey. It was established in 2012 with the first race held on April 14-15. Lastin ...

. In order to be prepared for the ultramarathons, he trains around within the week. Due to his strict duty times, he participates at the single-stage competitions on weekends, and at

multiday race Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set ...

s only during his vacation. He lately ran in ultramarathons with extreme conditions in Turkey, China and Republic of South Africa. Mahmut Yavuz admits that the training in terms of physical and psychological endurance he received during the SAT commando courses is an absolutely significant advantage at this type of competition. Yavuz won the 2012

over , and repeated his success by winning the first edition of the six-day

Runfire Cappadocia Ultramarathon Runfire Cappadocia Ultramarathon, shortly RFC, ( tr, Runfire Kapadokya Ultramaratonu) is an international multiday ultramarathon event of desert concept that takes place mostly across the historic Cappadocia region in central Turkey. The event ...

the same year. After coming first at the 2013 İznik Ultramarathon again, he became runner-up at the seven-day lasting and long

Gobi March The 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is an annual series of four 250-kilometer (155-mile) races across deserts around the globe. The races were recognized as the world's leading endurance footrace series by ''TIME'' magazine in 2009 and 2010, as the ...

in China, the second event of the

4 Deserts The 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is an annual series of four 250-kilometer (155-mile) races across deserts around the globe. The races were recognized as the world's leading endurance footrace series by ''TIME'' magazine in 2009 and 2010, as the ...

series. Yavuz won the

DASK Anatolian Mountain Marathon The DASK was the first computer in Denmark. It was commissioned in 1955, designed and constructed by Regnecentralen, and began operation in September 1957. DASK is an acronym for Dansk Aritmetisk Sekvens Kalkulator or ''Danish Arithmetic Sequence ...

held at

Mount Bolu Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

on July 5–6, 2013 together with his teammate İlyas Avcı. After attesting his first rank at the desert-concept event of Runfire Cappadocia Ultra in 2013, he placed second at the

Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon The Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon is a self-sufficient run over seven days, covering an approximate distance of . The event takes place in the Kalahari Desert in the proximity of the Augrabies Falls on the Orange River. The route traverses ...

held on October 19–25, 2013 in the Republic of South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yavuz, Mahmut 1982 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Naval Academy (Turkey) alumni Turkish Navy officers Turkish male long-distance runners Turkish male marathon runners Turkish mountain runners Turkish ultramarathon runners Male ultramarathon runners