Mahmut Yavuz (born 1982) is a

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

officer, who serves, currently as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, 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 is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

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 in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. After finishing high school, he attended the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. It has a population of 288,878 (2022) and a land area of 138 km2 . It is on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coa ...

. He graduated with a BSc 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 The Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized missions. They were predecessors of the Navy's current United States Navy SEAL, SEAL teams. Their pri ...

of the

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main func ...

. As of November 2013, Yavuz has the rank of a navy lieutenant (), and is stationed in Keçilik village at Anadolu Kavağı,

Beykoz Beykoz () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 310 km2, and its population is 247,875 (2022). It lies at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name i ...

, 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 is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

. 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 14-15 April. 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 se ...

s only during his vacation. He lately ran in ultramarathons with extreme conditions in Turkey,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. 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 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 in

, 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 th ...

series. Yavuz won the DASK Anatolian Mountain Marathon held at Mount Bolu on 5–6 July 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 held on 19–25 October 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 21st-century Turkish sportsmen