Day 441 – EU – Turkey [Havsa to Luleburgaz]


19/06/21

50.3km

  From Havsa (Turkey) to Luleburgaz (Turkey)

Europe


Ups and downs, 16 hills, strong sun, humidity and torrential rain – that sums it up for the day!

The landscapes today, rural and hilly

It was about 7am when I started running and the sun was already very strong, coupled with high humidity, I was all sweaty within a kilometer or so. With the puddles of the overnight rain, it almost seemed like the heat was coming directly from the ground, I was toast! But within an hour or so, clouds started gathering and the rest of the day was an alternance of rain and sun. Another rainbow day.

Happy in Babaeski!

Run wise, today was consistent with the past 3 days. Super good quality road with extra wide shoulder. And… constant ups and downs. Today was probably the most I have had. I counted 16 hills throughout the 50kms run. It was either going up or down, no flat segment. Actually the only flat I had was when I ran through Babaeski about halfway through, and it was very pleasant.

Luleburgaz from the west hill – a big city

Somewhere on the road I ran past an abandoned petrol station. A pack of a dozen dogs and puppies lived there and were apparently guarding the place. They didn’t like my running that close to them. They all ran after me. I used BoB as a shield, as I do when there is too much aggressivity and it never fails to work. The dogs always back up. But in this case, each time I was turning BoB to face the road and get going again, they would chase me again. Bugger. So I sort of started running backwards, with BoB still facing them. A very kind man stopped his car and came to my rescue, courageously walking towards them and telling them off. I ran away, very happy that someone had spotted me and helped.

Pedestrian, vibrant, colourful city center

I’m in Luleburgaz today, a big city of over 100,000 people. Staying in the centre, near a mosque (cue: muezzin will be calling for prayers at night again!) and in a pedestrian area. I went for a walk and it felt great. It’s such a mixture of occident and orient. I did manage to find great food today again, it’s kind of fresh, rich and oily like the greek food but with a twist and much spices added to the mix. I’ve been sweating a bit whilst eating my lunch today!



Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: