Athens marathon 2017

Anybody doing this one in November ? , this will be my 6th year in a row , fly from Manchester on Friday 10th , can’t wait , 

Comments

  • Hi Martin, my first time in Athens, I will land at 2pm, any advise to get quickly to the Expo and then back to the city centre without wasting the whole day?
  • also can you share some advice on the course, water stations, temperature... greatly appreciated!
  • hi marcorun ,what day do u fly , the first 4 years I did the marathon I got the tram from the city centre to the expo , easy to do but it is a long journey , over an hour I think , last year we got a taxi which takes about 15 minutes and is not expensive , this year I am travelling alone but will still go for the taxi option when I arrive Friday afternoon , cant remember how much it costs but I would say about 15 euros each way , where are u stopping in Athens , I will update you later with details on the course etc , cheers martin
  • hi marcorun ,sunday morning is an early start to the town of marathon , hundreds of buses leave the centre of Athens to get everybody to the start line , the journey on the bus you will notice goes gradually downhill to marathon and it is the same road that u run back on to Athens , it can be quite chilly at that time in the morning so have something warm whilst waiting for the start of the race , the last 5 years it has been about 16 degrees when the race has started , the course itself u have probably heard is tough , the first 13 miles has a bit of up and down and it then starts getting tough from mile 13-20 , not steep but gradually uphill , the last 6 miles is all downhill back into Athens , the final part of the race down a tree lined avenue and into the panatheneic stadium is amazing , medical stations and water stations are better than any other I know , the support and hospitality from the greek people is fantastic , it is a bit sparse in places but running through some of the small villages is lively and noisy , the race is superbly organised and the greeks are very proud of their marathon ,the weather during the race for the last 5 years has been warm and sunny , probably in the low 20s so don't forget the sun tan cream , any more questions feel free to ask , cheers martin
  • Dear Martin Smith 51, thank you so much for all the info! I will be landing on Saturday at 2pm at the airport and still have to reach the expo, makes it quite tight with timings, after the expo I will still have to get back to the central area to meet my club mates, dinner and a "proper sleep". I am well prepared but still unsure on how I will react to heat and the long uphill, last year in Lisbon it reached over 25 and I struggled with the heat. Thank you again for the tips, hopefully I'll see you somewhere along the route. Good luck!
  • Your welcome marcorun , where abouts are u stopping in Athens ? , I will be wearing my team gb vest and poppy (rememberance Sunday ) good luck and may see you on route 
  • look forward for a GB vest, I am starting from the second wave at 9:02, my vest will have MARCO printed on the front.
  • Hi Martin, well done on your marathon! I think I've spotted you at the finish straight. Very tough course! Not recommended for a PB, although I agree, people were fantastic! I still managed a good time. Thank you for all the advice, although you didn't mention about the 31k :smile: !
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