Weather conditions end run for charity

FREAK weather prevented a man from completing a 111km mountain run from Kantara Castle to Karaman to raise awareness of prostate cancer.

Hüseyin Öngün had been hoping to finish the “Four Castles Mountain Ultra” in 17 hours in aid of the Help Those with Cancer Association (Tulips) last Saturday.

However freezing conditions, torrential rain, hail, strong winds and poor visibility meant that Mr Öngün, who had set out at 3am, had to cut short the trek for “health and safety” reasons.

Writing on Facebook on the day of the run Mr Öngün, who was accompanied part of the way by friend Mustafa Tuğçe, said: “The heavy rain and hail that started at the village of Tirmen stayed with us for approximately 25km.

“With the addition of strong winds, the temperature felt like it was below zero. We had to abandon the run at the Alevkayası Restaurant at the 60km mark because we were very wet and cold. . . We will run the last 50km from where we left off next week.”

A statement from Tulips said: “Sadly, due to [the] extreme weather . . . Hüseyin Öngün has had to stop running his Ultrarun. . . His run was too dangerous in this weather across the Beşparmak Mountain range, with poor visibility. It was a wise decision to stop.

“We cannot thank Hüseyin enough for his attempt, however his health and safety are more important and we fully support his decision.”

Prior to the fundraising attempt Mr Öngün met Tulips chair Raziye Kocaismail, who told the media that prostate cancer is treated as a “taboo” topic meaning the treatable cancer is often not diagnosed until the later stages.