Necdet Turhan (born 1957) is a Turkish visually impaired

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

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 comes two d ...

. 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 Turkey and is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is located in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 338,936. Between 1341–1922, it was the capital of Karasi. History Close to mo ...

, Turkey, in 1957. He was schooled in

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) 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 ...

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

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power ...

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, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

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 public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. He graduated with honours in 1994.

Career

Turhan started

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

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 Bursa Atatürk Stadium ( tr, Bursa Atatürk Stadyumu) was a multi-purpose stadium in Bursa, Turkey. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Bursaspor. The stadium held 25,213 and was built in 1979. A stadium had exist ...

. In 2000, he took part in the

Istanbul Marathon The Istanbul Marathon ( tr, İstanbul Maratonu, also known as N Kolay 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 w ...

, 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 TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) 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 finishe ...

(Americas) in 2002, the

Athens Classic Marathon The Athens Classic Marathon The Authentic is an annual marathon road race held in Athens, Greece, normally in early November (the second Sunday of November), since 1972. It also often serves as Greece's national marathon championships. The r ...

(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 (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...

(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 a vision impairment Turkish blind people Turkish mountain climbers Turkish male long-distance runners Middle East Technical University alumni Mount Ararat