Mountain races blitzed by vegan runner Itir

There’s huge height gains and epic distances but Itir continues to come out on top

Itir Atadiyen is on cloud nine as she continues her phenomenal success in the toughest of ultra races with more podiums and first places!

The Turkish vegan runs sky races – races that involve climbing to such high altitude, competitors are literally running with their heads in the clouds. Itir recently finished on the age-group podium of the Merrell Belgrad Ultra in Istanbul – a 59 km race with 1,332 metres of height gain. She crossed the finish line after six hours, 49 minutes and 32 seconds.

Earlier this year she completed the Aladaglar Epic Trail which involved covering 119 km and an incredible 7,504 metres of climbing. She finished first in her age group of 40-49 after being on the move for nearly 24 hours!

In May, she took on the challenge of two trail marathons just a week apart. With 2,273 metres and 1,253 metres of height gain respectively they were tough courses, and again she won her age group.

On top of this, Itir has also been racing in “triathlon, road running, trail running and orienteering” which she says are “just for fun”.

Itir has been vegan since 2018, and since then keeps getting better at her demanding sports. She told Great Vegan Athletes, “I love animals and care about them.”

When it comes to fueling, she said: “I mostly eat healthy vegan food like salads, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and of course a lot of carbs because of losing too many calories during sports.” Whatever she’s doing, she’s clearly doing it right!

Content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.