​N Kolay Istanbul Marathon Starts Off With The Excitement of Ideathon! The excitement of the 43 rd N Kolay Istanbul Marathon starts already in July with an Online Ideathon!

N Kolay and Spor Istanbul are hosting an ideathon to make this important sports event an unique experience. Ideas from different teams will compete in N Kolay Istanbul Online Ideathon between 9-11 July 2021. During 2-day idea camp, young people will work in teams and compete for prizes. Participants will be able to receive mentoring support and training while developing their creative and technological suggestions through teamwork for 2 days. At the end of the camp, the teams will make their presentations before the jury. Istanbul Marathon, holds a special place among athletes because it is the only marathon run between two continents in the world.  New-generation digital bank N Kolay, who is the name sponsor of Istanbul Marathon breaks a new ground this year with "N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon" and embraces creative ideas that will boost the power of the marathon.  Young minded participants of N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon will have the chance to take part in the creative team of the ideas that will turn N Kolay Istanbul Marathon into an unforgettable event. N Kolay Idea Marathon will be organised and facilitated by Stage-Co's experienced team.

The Challenge

In N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon, the challenge is based on culture and technology, sustainable ideas which will make the marathon a long lasting, unique and unforgettable experience for both domestic and foreign participants, increase the number of amateur and professional athletes are expected to compete. 

Rules and Awards

Participants must be older than 18 years, and teams must consist of minimum 3 and maximum 6 members.  The first, second and third runner up teams will receive 10 thousand TL, 7 thousand TL and 5 thousand TL, respectively.  Free participation in the N Kolay Istanbul Online Marathon at any distance will be offered to all the participating teams. 

Application process

Pre-applications for the N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon will be open until 24:00 on Sunday, July 4. Teams who pass the stage of pre-application, will be able to compete in the Online Ideathon in July. 15 teams are expected to participate in the Online Ideathon. 

Adaca: We are waiting for the bright ideas of the young people

Expressing their excitement for both N Kolay 43rd Istanbul Marathon and N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon, Aysegul Adaca, CEO of Aktif Bank, said: "We are determined to raise the bar for Istanbul Marathon, of which we hold the title sponsorship with our digital bank N Kolay. We, as a giant financial technologies ecosystem, realize an innovation in the marathon with the awareness that ideas of young people are of great importance. With the N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon, we will listen to creative ideas of young people and put into effect the ideas chosen by the jury. We believe that we can further improve the marathon and offer an unforgettable experience for the participants, especially through innovative suggestions based on technology and culture. Our vision is to bring it to a level with overwhelming impact worldwide, and we will continue to work hard in this respect. We will be glad to support our young people through the competition we hold to see their unique points of views."

Renay Onur, the General Manager of Spor Istanbul;

"We attach importance not only to performance, but also to experience."

Onur expressed his thoughts on the new platform where N Kolay Istanbul Marathon will open, and said: "We, as IMM Spor İstanbul, aim to introduce an active life to Istanbul and people of Istanbul. Today, we have to design fun, innovative and experience-oriented events to motivate masses and make it permanent. Istanbul Marathon and Istanbul Half Marathon are the biggest and most important ones among more than 50 national-international events we hold throughout the year. I believe that the partnership, which started last year with the title sponsorship, we established with N Kolay, which has an innovative and experience-oriented point of view and is specialized in technology, will take these 2 events, playing an important role in Istanbul and even Turkey, to a different dimension.

Unlike elite athletes, mass sports participants run for experience and personal growth, rather than success and performance. This reason has become our main aim to spread the values of sports to the whole city. This is why we want to make the running experiences, which the sports lovers want to be involved in, more precious, improve these experiences with innovative alternatives independent of time and place, and thus take position as the iconic event of both the city and the country.

This effort, which also matches with the creative city vision of Ekrem Imamoglu, the Mayor of IMM, will be a unique experience for us to witness development of ideas that will enable future generations to discover themselves and Istanbul through sports-oriented experiences. We are excited about "N Kolay Istanbul Idea Marathon", which we believe will support us for this goal…".