Hillsider 69 dergi F1 - Hillside Beach Club

66/67/68/69/70
Article: Galia Hasid
Photos: Şenol Altun
How Long Can You Walk along the Path You Believe in?
The Lycian Way: the Story of a “Hillsider Challenge”
“Hillsider Challenge”:
extraordinary stories
of ordinary people
began three years ago
with the ascent of
Mount Ararat and went
on with rowing from the
Bosphorus to Bozcaada.
How would this story
unfold?
It all started eight months ago with a
dream. The target was set:
Walking the whole 509 kilometers of
the historical Lycian Way, designated
as one of the top 10 long-distance
trekking routes in the world... For this
trip that extended from Antalya to
Fethiye, the Hillsider Challenge team
would be sent off from Hillside Su
and greeted at Hillside Beach Club.
The whole team launched into a hard
training process. Training schedules,
announcements and outdoor trekking
routes were developed. The Hillsider
Challenge was looking for its real
heroes: members who were not
professional athletes, individuals who
had never run or even walked long
distance before.
Meetings were held at Hillside Etiler,
Trio and ‹stinye addressing the
member bodies of the three clubs and
detailing the Hillsider Challenge
experience. This resulted in an even
higher interest in walking the Lycian
Way. This is how Dilek from the
Challenge team described the
moment of her decision: “I was even
more motivated after the first
meeting because the process
involved training sessions and events
open to participation by everyone.
The real purpose was to experience
this challenge by creating a team
spirit, rather than competing.”
The preliminary preparations started
as early as in April for this heavenly
trip. The program included special
trainings on Bosu® suitable for hiking,
and running on treadmills carrying
rucksacks at the club facilities,
as well as outdoor practices along
trekking routes comparable to the
Lycian Way on weekends.
in this ascent,
30 Hillsiders who would walk the
Lycian Way started phase two of
preparations. In the background,
there was an immaculate preparation
period going on regarding every detail
of the Lycian trip. Send-off from
Hillside Su,
Yörük tents that the nights would be
spent in, special Challenge outfits,
entertaining activities for each night,
special menus, and the greeting at
Hillside Beach Club...
At the end of the long and laborious
preparations came the big day...
The team set on the road on October
19th. One of the challengers who
covered 509 kilometers, at times
under the sun and at times under the
rain along the various tracks that
mingle nature and history along the
Lycian
Way regarded among the top 10
trekking routes in the world, Özge
talked about this experience that
lasted from October 20 to October
29: “Rumi has a saying: “Success is a
journey, not a destination. Happiness
is to be found along the way and not
at the end of the road, for then the
journey is over and it's too late. The
time for happiness is today not
tomorrow.”
I think that the Lycian Way is
something like that. From day one, the
whole team got together for a
challenging purpose. Sometimes we
were hard pressed and sometimes we
had fun while working to achieve this
purpose.
We demonstrated that we were a
team that had fun and got happy
together, that we were motivated and
overcame hardships as a group.”
Here is the point arrived at the end of
the road: it is not about how long you
have travelled, but how good you
felt...
Congratulations to the entire Hillside
Challenge team that feels good and
makes others feel good. Good luck for
the next adventure...
Our thanks to Puma, GNC and
Caribou Coffee that walked along this
path with us.
At the end of the first phase, it was
time for screening: the ascent of
Aydos, the highest summit in ‹stanbul.
Following the screening that
identified the successful individuals