Gloria hotels at Belek are the center of that race. Value for money, great weather,  many lifeguards, extremely fast bike race (unfortunately nobody respect NO drafting rules and they were many bike groups with 20-30 bikers Drafting Only!!!) and a unique running course with 2 loops inside Gloria Serenity and Gloria golf resort and 3,5 klm till the finish line in the main road to Gloria Sports Arena. 

Generally was a really good race, I was a little worried because the race pack was late in coming out and there were roumours of issues with the road surface on the bike course. 

Everything else was ok in terms of the breifing, athough there were changes to the bike course 2 days before the race. This was because of G20 summit road repairs taking priority over the IM works.

Swim was fine, although it was choppy, the course was quick due to the Aussy exit and the sea.

The bike was an interetsing course but the roads were REALLY BAD there were secions that were just gravel, there was one moment where there was an old woman hurding goats at the side of the road.

The bike wasnt very hilly but was slower than i would have liked because of the road surface.

Run was good, i like a 2 lap run, very flat and fast, The weather was spot on for a fast run. 

The gloria sports park where T2 and the finish were located was fantastic. 

Generally it was a good race and I can see why they chose Belek as a destination because of the wealth of accomadation and good weather late in the year, I think it will be better next year provided they sort the bike course out.

My surname was wrong at registration. One of the ironman guys gave me a form to change it. and he told me to write "soyadi inan" which means in turkish "surname inan" . and race day my name was "soyadi inan utku" means in english "surname inan utku" . After that several times i wrote to organization but did not receive any change about it. my certificate , finisher pix photo all of them with "soyadi inan utku" . It is exacly shame. 

My biggest critism is the amount and validness of the information provided in the briefing and also on the athlete's guide. 

Brief summary is, the context of the aid stations were different of what was announced, last minute changes were only provided in the pre-race briefing, the briefing time was given as an interval of 5 hours(e.g. Briefings between 10Am-4pm) until a couple of days prior to the race, which was problematic for me to arrange my transportation to the site.

+PROs

Transitions were well prepared

Volunteers were amazing, as if they were professionals

Australian Exit was well prepared and easy to navigate

-CONs

Road Course had 2 very bad (i would ride through if this wasn't a race bad)

Run Course was not scenic like described

Run Course had holes on the road, and bad parts (especially not suitable for para athletes)

Parking was a problem overall (registration and race)

Turkey was my last race of the season! Nice excuse to extend the season a bit longer :) The date was perfect as was in the half term holidays so the whole family could go!

We booked all our travel/accomodation through the race organisers. I would recommend looking into that as they offer a discount for athletes staying in the Gloria hotels but also they organise everything for you which is another race stress aleviated! We flew from London Gatwick direct to Antalya and had a 40min airport transfer to Belek where the race takes place. We stayed in the Gloria Verde hotel which out of all the Gloria hotels (except for the Sports Arena which is not kid friendly) was the closest to the transition zones/athlete village etc. 

The expo was quite small so dont expect to find much...just dont forget anything!!!;) The official race bike mechanics were brilliant!!! Worked so hard to help everyone! Very friendly and professional!

The transitions were split but it really was not a big hassle at all. They were not far from eachother and you could drop off your T2 bag after the briefing which only left a short trip to T1 to rack the bike etc. I would suggest the organisers to have bike covers in transition, like they had in Zell even though we didnt need them there, to give the option of covering the bikes as the weather was uncertain. During the briefing would have been good to mention the time change and also which colour wrist band was for which lap.

The weather had been terrible in the days leading up to the race with huge waves in the sea making it impossible for the buoys to be set out. They were put out on the day of the race so never really got to swim part of the course before the actual day! The water was 23C so wetsuits were optional. That temperature for me is quite warm and I wore my swim skin which was perfectly fine!

On race day the weather was perfect! 25C with cloud cover. Some waves in the water but nothing too scary. The swim course we discovered later was cut short but a few hundred meters for safety reasons. The swim start was also changed to a rolling start. Not sure if that will be the case for future races! There were quite a few changes last minute which I understand were unavoidable but also were a bit offputting. 

The swim was a 2 loop Australian exit swim with a longer loop followed by a shorter one before you got out to run a short way to the change tent. 

The bike course was mostly flat with some small hills and a long hill at the half way point. The bike course was also changed last minute because of some unfinished road works and the road conditions were not great. There were quite a few parts where aerobars were forbidden as it wasnt considered safe due to the road conditions. Farm roads, cobblestones, offroad....it was all there! My bike looked like an MTB bike at the end of the race! I would strongly suggest either fixing the roads or changing the bike course to avoid these terrible parts. I have never seen so many punctures, chains broken, accidents in a race before. 

Another point to note is the big downhill after the turnaround point which was quite dangerous proven by the fact that a few people crashed! There should be a warning sign at the aid station on the top of the hill. The marshalls were practically invisible. I saw the same marshall only passing twice who was seeming like he was just out for a nice motorcycle ride! He was passing people obviously drafting and doing nothing about it!  The drafting in this race was quite shocking and should be marshalled better. There were also parts were people were passing or being on their aerobars in the forbidden areas. Again no marshalls there either.

The run is pretty flat except a tunnel you have to go through 4 times with a steep but short incline. There is a part on the highway which is uninspiring but the part through the town and along the golf course is pretty and quite nice to run along. There were no toilets anywhere on the run course which is obviosuly something that needs to be fixed for next year. The volunteers were very nice and helpful! The only thing to note is that later in the day when only a few people were still racing the aid stations were being packed up!!! These people had nothing offfered to them! No water, no gels , they were completely ignored! Again that needs to be rectified for next year.

The support was brilliant and great for spectators as the run is 2 out and back loop course so easy to see your family and friends a few times!

The medal was amazing, one of the best I have had, the finisher t shirt I would suggest being technical and not cotton so we can wear when training.

All in all the organisers did a good job especially as it was the first time for this race. I would definitely recommend this race especially if you want to have some holidays after your race.

This was the first time an m-dot event had been held in Turkey, and the day before the race I was concerned that things just were not going to be ready. Roadworks were still being undertaken, transitions were not in place and the swim course was not out due to rough seas. Logistics were iffy - getting to the two transition points from our hotel was tricky. 

On race morning it appeared that they were not going to get the event started in time - bouys were not out even 1 hour before the start. However- I have no idea how - the race organiser managed to pull it off. The race started on time, and I felt safe and well looked after throughout. 

The swim was non-wetsuit for the pros (although it was wetsuit for the AGs). The sea was warm, and not too rough. Sighting was pretty easy. An ozzie exit made it spectator friendly. 

The bike was super super flat. The road surfaces were generally good with just a few sections which were rough. The flat nature meant there was a fair bit of drafting going on - certainly for the first half of the race. The bike route has  one significant climb out to the turnaround point which is where things broke up a bit. Aid stations were well placed and well manned although bottles were not "bike cage friendly". 

The run route was great, on roads - well supported and with good aid stations. It was cloudy so not too hot during the race but there is potential for this to be a hot course as there was not much shade. 

The only problem was the closed roads made getting anywhere after the race very difficult except on foot. The post-event area was great though with nice food and lots of places to sit and socialise. 

All in all a good race in a nice location. The Gloria Arena is a fabulous sporting facility which is easily big enough to host an event much larger so this has room to grow in future years. 

Great event with spectacular courses and facilities. Various problems that occured during the event were tolerable and I have trust that it will get much better in the upcoming years. Every one from the organization team, including the volunteers were amazingly nice and supporting. It was my first Ironman 70.3 race this year, next year I am coming back 5 people! It inspired me to put a team of Ironman virgins together amongst friends. I am sure this race will contribute a lot to culture of sports and triathlon in Turkey.