The final stage of the HIKE events took place along the Tolerance Way in Türkiye over two extended weekends. The first of these 3-day activities was organised on 1-3 November 2024 in and around İzmit (Nicomedia). The Culture Routes Society, HIKE partner and the project coordinator, organized and promoted it in collaboration with local supporters – Izmit Municipality and Kocaeli Higher Education Association. Similar to the previous hikes in Italy and Greece, this one also gathered local hiking enthusiasts in a series of walks, sports events and other side activities with over 500 registrations for two weekends. An influencer couple (@trailofus) accompanied the walkers for three days and shared their experiences on social media.
The Kocaeli University’s Faculty of Sports took part in all hikes, collecting data via a series of health and psychology-related surveys and measurements to be later analyzed by an academician and summarized in a scientific study on the benefits of walking for human health and well-being.
The first day of the events – 1 November – gathered more than 100 participants, mostly university students, local residents and a few tourists, who volunteered to contribute to the academic research on sports and wellbeing. They enjoyed a guided walk around the historical monuments in Izmit city center (about 7.5 km) and attended a workshop on physical preparation for hiking at the end of the day. The co-creator of the Tolerance Way and a hiking enthusiast, Furkan Yavuz, did a comprehensive presentation on the importance of physical preparation for trekking by shedding light on topics such as clothing and gear, tips on preparing backpacks, nutrition and hydration, useful mapping, bird and plant identifying apps, etc.
Compared to the first day’s itinerary, which was mostly in an urban setting, the following days of the same weekend offered a rather rural and natural environment. The second day had about 70 participants, including 10 volunteers for the health measurements tests. From the starting point of the hike, the village of Bahçecik, the participants first took a pleasant walk of 9 km up towards an abandoned Armenian school passing along orchards and village houses. The second highlight of the same day was in a forest area between Bahçecik and Servetiye Karşı villages with a historical site of the battlefield trenches from World War I.
Since the third hike was about 15 km and more difficult than the others, the call for that day was shared with a closed group of more experienced hikers from local hiking clubs. Around 30 people signed up for the final day with 10 participating in the academic research. An experienced sports expert from the municipality had the participants warm up and stretch before starting the hike through the national park of Beşkayalar. Then the group enjoyed a long but quite pleasant walk in a foggy atmosphere through the forests.
[Pictures: Culture Routes Society – Trail of Us]