Research Article

Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team

Volume: 9 Number: 2026 September 18, 2026
TR EN

Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the operational experiences of the "Course Clearance, Search, and Rescue Team" “C-SAR-T” that served at the “Kaçkar By UTMB” ultra-trail marathon held in Turkey in 2025, within the framework of the concept of sympoietic (co-production). within the framework of the concept of sympoiesis (co-production)

Method: The study was designed as a qualitative case study within the interpretive paradigm. The analysis examined how task coordination is established, maintained, or disrupted within a heterogeneous network comprising human and non-human actors, drawing on the concept of autopoietic systems. Data were collected from 23 participants (7 women, 16 men, age range 19–37 years) using an asynchronous, semi-structured written interview protocol consisting of 11 open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using six-step thematic analysis method.

Results: The analysis revealed five main themes: interdisciplinary co-learning; the infrastructural fragility of communication; improvisation with distributed actors; collective mind, trust, and real-time decision-making; lack of preparedness and the demand for recognition. The findings show that rescue performance emerged not primarily from individual expertise, but from real-time coordination among different actors such as teams, volunteers, local residents, and civilian resources; they indicate that infrastructural disruptions such as radio failures and language barriers forced co-production to rely on improvisation.

Conclusion: Rescue operations in ultra-trail events are sympoietic processes where performance is a "becoming-with" involving both human and non-human actors. The study recommends multi-stage training and the formal integration of distributed resources into high-reliability organizational frameworks to move from reactive improvisation to planned reliability.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Sports and Recreation

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

September 18, 2026

Submission Date

July 11, 2026

Acceptance Date

September 18, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 9 Number: 2026

APA
Dinç, S. C., & Bektaş, F. (2026). Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, 9(2026), 788-810. https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG
AMA
1.Dinç SC, Bektaş F. Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi. 2026;9(2026):788-810. https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG
Chicago
Dinç, Sırrı Cem, and Fatih Bektaş. 2026. “Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team”. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 9 (2026): 788-810. https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG.
EndNote
Dinç SC, Bektaş F (September 1, 2026) Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 9 2026 788–810.
IEEE
[1]S. C. Dinç and F. Bektaş, “Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team”, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 9, no. 2026, pp. 788–810, Sept. 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG
ISNAD
Dinç, Sırrı Cem - Bektaş, Fatih. “Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team”. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi 9/2026 (September 1, 2026): 788-810. https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG.
JAMA
1.Dinç SC, Bektaş F. Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi. 2026;9:788–810.
MLA
Dinç, Sırrı Cem, and Fatih Bektaş. “Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team”. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 9, no. 2026, Sept. 2026, pp. 788-10, https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG.
Vancouver
1.Sırrı Cem Dinç, Fatih Bektaş. Operational Experience of Ultra Trail Marathon: Sympoietic Perspective of the Course Clearance, Search and Rescue Team. Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Spor Bilimleri Dergisi [Internet]. 2026 Sep. 1;9(2026):788-810. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA96CC45RG

For the articles to be published in 2026 in the ÇOMÜ Journal of Sports Sciences, an international, peer-reviewed journal covering studies in the field of Sports Sciences, original research and review articles written in English within the scope of the journal will be accepted.

In this context, manuscripts for the 2026 publication period may be submitted until the end of October 2026.

Kind regards,

Editor
Prof. Dr. Hürmüz KOÇ