Necdet Turhan (born 1957) is a Turkish visually impaired

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and national athlete for

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running come two di ...

. In 2017 he completed a project that called for running five marathons on five different continents, and climbing five summits in five different continents.

Early life

Necdet Turhan was born in

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

, Turkey, in 1957. He was schooled in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

due to his father's professional assignment. He lost his eyesight due to a

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

l disease which began when he was 23. After finishing high school, he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

at the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. He graduated with honours in 1994.

Career

Turhan started

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

by joining the "Mountain Climbing and Winter Sports Club" at his university. He initially faced objection from the club members due to his blindness, but afterwards was allowed to take part in climbing activities. He reached the summits of Bey Dağları, Mt. Erciyes, and other peaks in Turkey. He became interested in

after he met master athletes exercising at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium. In 2000, he took part in the

Istanbul Marathon The Istanbul Marathon (, also known as Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an international athletics event hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, in November, first held in 1979. It is the only marathon in the world who ...

, running in the category. As part of a project titled "Five marathons, five summits in five continents", which was sponsored by the "Bridge to Turkey Fund" of the Turkish people living in the U.S., Turhan ran the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

(Americas) in 2002, the Athens Classic Marathon (Europe) in 2004, the Japan World Blind Marathon (Asia) in 2005, the Sydney Marathon (Australasia) in 2006, and the Egyptian Luxor Marathon (Africa) in 2007. He climbed the Mt. Ararat (Asia) in 2007, the Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa) in 2008, the

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

(Europe) in 2010, and the Mt. Sherman (Americas) in 2014. After completing five marathons and four summits, he achieved his project goal in 2017 by climbing the Mt. Kosciuszko (Australasia) as the fifth summit.

Personal life

Currently, Turhan lives in Bursa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turhan, Necdet Living people 1957 births Sportspeople from Balıkesir Sportspeople with visual impairment Turkish blind people Turkish mountain climbers Turkish male long-distance runners Middle East Technical University alumni Mount Ararat 20th-century Turkish sportsmen