Scarpa Ambassador Çağlar Kasım's Aladağlar Epic Trail Experience

With my Scarpa Golde Gate 2 ATR shoes, Scarpa running bag, competition registration and accommodation provided by the Scarpa team, I set off in the early hours of the morning with my car from Izmir, where I was for another competition.

My excitement was multiplied because I was going to run in Aladağlar for the first time and I would be with the Scarpa Family. After a long and tiring journey, I could only arrive at the hotel where I would be staying at 00:20. The Scarpa Team welcomed me, delivered my competition kit and accompanied me to the room where I would be staying. Our team had made all the plans for the competition day. What time to get up, breakfast time, departure time, etc. Hearing all this that night took all my tiredness away as soon as I put my head on the pillow and I was extremely happy to be a part of this family.

When I woke up in the morning, I immediately took my cold shower, which is my competition routine, placed the necessary materials in my Scarpa bag, put on my Scarpa Golden Gate 2 ATR shoes and after completing all my final preparations, I went down to breakfast. After having breakfast with the other athletes of our Scarpa Team, I came to myself with the smell and taste of filter coffee specially prepared by our team.

Scarpa Running Shoes

After placing my bags belonging to the competition in our Scarpa Team vehicle, we moved from our Taurus Guest House accommodation in Çukurbağ to the area called Sarı Mehmet's Dormitory, which is the start and finish area, accompanied by filter coffee and pleasant conversation. Since I had arrived in the darkness of the previous night, I only felt the altitude I had climbed. With the first lights of the day, that perfect geography was revealed. I couldn't help turning my head left and right, and my curiosity about the hills above the clouds was increasing even more. When we arrived at the start area, all I wanted was to start the competition as soon as possible and immerse myself in this unique geography. The fact that it was thought up to the gels I would use in the competition made me even happier.

Even as I completed all my preparations and started to warm up, my eyes were not on the competitors but on the hills I was excitedly waiting to climb. After warming up well, I took my place at the start and jumped to the front with the start horn. Although it was a fast start, knowing that I was in a beautiful organisation, in a unique geography and the comfort and speed provided by the Scarpa Golden Gate 2 ATR on my feet caused my body to flow without difficulty. Even in front of the athletes running the 13 k course, as soon as the technical descents started, my teammate Ayhan and I took our place in the leadership. Despite the mandatory materials and drinkers in my Scarpa Running bag, it did not make me feel its presence as if it was a part of my body.

The technical canyon descent was over, and the wide stony stream bed route had now given way to climbing. Having won the Gölpazarı Ultra 20 K course with 1st place in the General Classification on Saturday of the previous weekend, having finished the Körfez Cherry Run 10 K road race with 4th place in the General Classification the next day, and even participating in the 1500 - 3000 metre track races in Izmir on Wednesday and Thursday in the same week, and driving approximately 3000 km in Ankara, Bilecik, Kocaeli, Izmir, Niğde respectively, I started to feel the fatigue of driving. The fact that my teammate went 1st and I went 3rd, and the air conditioning I had to turn on due to the extreme heat during the journeys. I decided not to speed up and to maintain my ranking due to the fact that the air conditioner that I had to turn on due to the extreme heat during the journeys caused the disease in my upper respiratory tract. In the meantime, I was watching the canyon we had just passed through and the canyon on our right, and every once in a while I was looking at the hills we would climb. Now it was time to put aside the psychology of the competition I was doing here for the first time and enjoy the geography.

Scarpa Golden Gate

In this tremendous organisation, of which Scarpa was the main sponsor, I was enjoying every step I took in the unique geography. I can say that at that moment I was missing the rest of the course and longing for the places I was going to. Of course, it was thanks to the secure grip and tremendous cushioning of my Scarpa Golden Gate 2 ATR shoes on my feet, which supported me to see this dream, and the comfort provided by my Scarpa Running bag, which I almost forgot was on my back.

The fast trail running, technical canyon descent, wide stony stream beds and short off road climbs were over, the first cp was passed and I was continuing the competition by drinking only a glass of water without any support and taking sips from the gels and isotonic water I carried with me. Of course, I could do it because I had trained my body for this distance many times in training. Now I started to feel like I belonged to this geography and I wanted to touch the rocks I passed by and I wanted to leave traces of me there.

When I reached the plains south of Erzevit Plateau, seeing the fountains and tents belonging to the shepherds and the troughs belonging to the herds made me forget my tiredness and illness and gave me a different excitement. Now the peaks of the hills were shining and when I looked down from where I was, I could see the clouds under my feet. With the start of the plains, I increased my speed with the opportunity to accelerate, which is the feature of the Scarpa Golden Gate 2 ATR that I like the most. My eyes were looking for the next lane at every step and enjoying the view, my ears were listening to the melody coming from the stones when I stepped on the ground. This environment I was experiencing made my speed increase even more with the confidence given by my shoes. Although the increasing hardness of the descent signalled that I should only focus on the ground I was going to step on, I was looking at the beauty of the landscape that I could not get enough of by looking up at every opportunity. I continued to leave my traces by touching the rocks I passed by and the tree branches that remained small due to the altitude.

When I realised that my speed was too high in such a technical landing and felt that my right foot slipped 1-2 cm at that time, a smile appeared on my face and I started to think that I had caught a defect that I could tell the authorities of Scarpa Golden Gate 2 ATR. Of course, this was due to my excessive speed.

Even though the water in my Scarpa bag was exhausted and the gels were eaten, it still stuck to my body like an athlete without any shaking and did not damage any part of me. Even on that hard landing, I was moving forward without any deformation on my toes, which is the other most beautiful feature of my shoes, and even the rock falling on my foot on the slope made me feel the weight of the stone only when lifting my foot thanks to the special toe design. And I am still surprised how this grip, cushioning and safety are provided in this lightness.

The technical hard descent was replaced by a much less sloping single track and we were continuing to run among taller pine trees compared to the ones above. On this track, I increased my speed again and I was almost gliding by making slaloms through the trees. In the last 3 kilometres, as soon as I got on the dirt road, I stopped by the 2nd cp and here I drank 1 glass of water and continued to increase my speed. By increasing my speed until about 03:30 pace, I started to wait for the finish.

When the finish started to appear, the fact that my Scarpa Team was waiting for me made me forget the tiredness of the competition and I started to experience the happiness of completing the course with 2nd place. Support, congratulations, admiring eyes, sincere attitudes made me happy on the one hand, on the other hand, I was sad with the thought that the unique course was over and I wish I had run longer stages.

I was very pleased that my team asked if I had any problems and then accompanied me to the feeding point for my quick recovery. After feeding, I immediately went to our Scarpa Team vehicle, changed comfortably without being exposed to the wind and returned to the competition area to support my teammates' finishes.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the Scarpa Team, with whom I have made incredible friendships in a very short time, where I feel like a part of this family, and who support me in every sense.

Good thing we have Scarpa..