Ton van Zutphen in Tarsus, Turkey / for St. Paul and run the Half-Marathon / 29th March 2015

Finally an opportunity came along to combine two hobbies: visiting a prime historic site and running a half marathon. Tarsus...birth place of Saul, around the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Saul was born a Jew, and Roman citizen.  He became Paul after his conversion as a follower of Jesus, and was a member of a wealthy family of weavers and traders. Orthodox Jewish background with studies that took him to Jerusalem where first he became prosecutor of the early Christians (he witnessed the stoning to death of the first Christian martyr Stephens). This prosecution work brought him to Damascus where God appeared to him and struck him blind. Three days later he was healed by Ananias, and became himself one of the disciples. He never met Jesus but is still considered the 13th apostle. In 1973 I visited what is said to be Ananias' house and the section of the wall around Damascus where  Paul escaped from, after the Jewish elite turned against him.  Paulos, Paulus, Paul,  is without doubt one the biggest change persons in history. He crafted the early documents on Christianity in a very profound and persuasive manner, and preached that salvation is based on faith, which is very similar to what Mother Theresa promoted. He travelled all over the Mediterranean, some even say to Spain. He died a horrible death under Emperor Nero probably in the year 65 when Nero decided that the fire which destroyed a significant part of Rome in the summer of 64 was instigated by the Christians. Possibly his burial place just outside the Porta Ostia in Rome was found in 2009: a sarcophagus,  carbon  backdated to the 1st century, is  inscribed in Latin as  ' Paul Apostle Martyr'.
In Tarsus, many spots relate to him being born there. The old town is full of historical artefacts and  relics...many more remain to be excavated...this Tarsus town having been dwelled in by people for over 5.000 years...so all civilisations have left their traces. Paul grew up here...could have drunk from the St. Paul's Well ; he walked the streets I ran through....

In Tarsus also Marc Antonius and Cleopatra met and started their courtship. The town was the largest economic centre for centuries during the Greek hegemony in Asia Minor. The old city, in a dilapidated state, plastered with cobble stones reminds me of Christian and Armenian neighbourhoods with large houses and very different from the rest of what is now a normal and fast expanding Turkish city of over 300.000 people.
My colleague David Wehinger, Ops. Director in our Syria Crisis Response Welthungerhilfe team, his girlfriend Sabine, and I stayed in the Konak Efsus hotel where the staff was hospitable but not really competent. A 'boutique hotel' in a large building dating back probably to the times of Kemal Ataturk's younger days (1900....?). Food in Tarsus definitely cannot compete with the fine cuisine of Anatolia and to what I am used to in Gaziantep. Although the pistachio ice cream cone after the run was particularly pleasing the tongue!

And the half marathon... after the drive through the rain of 300 kms. the day before, the skies on Sunday were blue...weather at the start at 9am clear and the temp. about 15 degrees. The organisation was perfect and I still cannot believe that the 50 Turkish Lira registration fee (20 USD) paid for a good quality running T-shirt, the pasta party, a serious bronze medal, a temporary chip, a backpack, and all electronic measuring of the 800 plus runners.  Well done and 'teshekuleer' (thank you). From the hotel to the start a simple walking distance. The race itself was a slow one....many curves in the old city with cobble stones / very picturesque though / a long stretch that started close to the Justinian bridge dating back to the 6th Byzantine century and which was still in use until 10 years ago... a very long stretch up and down of at least 10 kms. My young colleague David was at least 15 minutes ahead of me when the race was half done. I enjoyed myself immensely, not having trained much...as this was my first race in Turkey...and the only Dutch runner / haha. A Kenyan won in just over 1 hour and 2 minutes; David clocked up 1 hour 48 min. 51 secs. and I finished in 2 hours 29 min. 20 secs. Very clearly I finished with the pack of grey wolves way in the back but was extremely satisfied  and determined to race again next year if I am still in Turkey.

David Wehinger / Antonius van Zutphen, Tarsus HMarathon 2015

Then a drive home again...slowly through the Taurus mountains toward Anatolia with heavy rain and fog. Satisfied!  Turkey is a good country for me.

Recommended reading for those who like history: partly non-fiction epic novel from Prof. Paul MAIER: the Flames of Rome 1981.