Didim’s own marathon man Garry Warren has sent a heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped raise his target of £2,000 to help raise funds for the Help-in-Hands charitable group.
Garry, who with his family, have enjoyed many holidays in Didim took on the Istanbul Marathon, the only intercontinental marathon in the world which bridges Europe and Asia last Sunday (Nov 3).
The 55-year-old Stagecoach bus driver, from Margate, Kent, ran the 42km route to fundraise for Helping in Hands’ project to provide assistance to earthquake victims of Hatay where last year over 500,000 people lost their homes and so many are still without safe shelter.
The charity has been actively engaged on helping to fund 28 small homes with insulation bathrooms, kitchens, flooring and ceilings. The site will have 44 of these homes, mainly for single women with disabled children. There will also be a play area and an allotment for each property so they can grow their own food.
Speaking a few days after the marathon, Garry told Voices: “I had a great time in Istanbul with family and friends who travelled from Didim.
“A young man from Liverpool was flying in at 6:45 pm Saturday but couldn’t pick up his number & said could I collect his number and gave it to him Saturday night. Me, my friend Rick and my new pal Jack from Liverpool met Sunday morning and got the ferry over to the Asian side.
“After a quick warm up, off I went across the Bosphorus Bridge. It was windy and it blew my hat off. The marathon course was great support in some places and up & down. Jack stayed with me up until halfway & went on as he felt good.
“I started to feel tired at mile 18 but mentally broke down the mileage to get through. A lot goes through your mind that you feel like giving up but I thought a lot about my family and friends and for what I was running for the people who have lost everything and I could help in some way by doing this. Maybe it’s the love for Didim and Turkiye.
He added: “I would like to thank everyone involved in the fundraising event and Lynn, Don, Cath and Hazel.”