Athens Marathon 2018 - who's in?

I've just signed up for The Authentic Marathon / Athens on Nov 11th 2018. Anyone else thinking of doing this or has signed up? It'd be great to hear from you if you're doing it! 30 weeks and counting!

Comments

  • Hi!

    I am planning to do this one (my second marathon), but I have had some problems getting confirmation of my entry. Have you got yours? I paid and registered in April (the date of the original post), but can't find an email to say that I am in! Quite worrying, especially as I get no reply from any of the social media contacts or email.

    Anyone else had this problem?

    Anthony
  • hello
    My confirmation email went into my spam folder and it was only by accident that I checked. Have you looked in your spam folder or equivalent?
  • Hi there , I’m in , this will be my 7th year in a row doing Athens , can’t wait , fly from Manchester on Friday 9th November and back on Wednesday 14th , Yorkshire marathon in 2 weeks first though , you should definitely have a confirmation email Anthony 
  • Hello Martin, how exciting to find someone who's run this before! It must be good if you've done it 7 times? (Blimey!) Does this race have pace runners? I've just emailed them to find out but doubt i'll get a response so it's great to hear from you. And for the record, just how bad are the hills in the middle section? What time bus to Marathon do you catch? Am thinking it's going to be a reasonably early start on the Sunday. And I'm thinking we're on the same flight from Manchester on the Friday!! It'll be the trainers that give us away!!!
  • Hi there gje , I don’t recall pace runners from previous years , not sure it’s the kind of race where pace runners is necessaryif u no what I mean , it is the Authentic marathon and the Greeks are very proud of it so it is such a privilege to run the historic course from marathon back to the original olympic stadium in Athens , the hills aren’t steep hills it is just a very gradual climb from mile 13 ish to 20 , the last 6 miles is pretty much all downhill into Athens , the bus u catch on the Sunday morning to marathon is the road u ran back on , u will notice it going gradually downhill with the blue line in the centre of the road , I normally get the bus about 6am , the last bus is about 6.30am , most hotels in Athens do an early breakfast , me and the other half are on the easyJet flight at 07.55am , there is normally loads of runners on the flight English and Greek , I will be wearing my 2017 shirt which is a yellow adidas one , the shirts have been fantastic each year , great quality and styling , the hospitality of the Greeks on the day of the race is amazing , not the most scenic route but when u run through some of the small villages the support is great , where are u stopping ? , let me know if u want to know anything else , weather , tavernas etc , cheers Martin 
  • hello martin, thanks for such a useful response, you've answered all those niggly Qs i needed to know to put my mind at rest. I'm an old fashioned "find joy in the journey" type marathoner so have no PB ambitions at all - my pace runner enquiry was because the only time i've time i've ever followed one I was startled at the (positive) difference it made to my last 6 miles. I've been doing my best to train on hills but am expecting this portion to be testin but what will be, will be! That said i really am looking forward to this event (tremendously) so am trying to not get too overexcited (yet). BTW, at the finish in the stadium, i assume other halves can get access to it & cheer us over the line? 
  • hi gje , yes other halves can watch runners come into the stadium , my other half is doing the 10k so will be in the stadium to hopefully see me finish , the best place for your other half as a vantage point is on the left hand side of  the stadium when u look into it as this is the side we run in ( lower down is probably better to spot each other as it is a huge stadium ) , the expo for your race no etc is well out of town , the tram to delta falirou where the expo is takes well over an hour , my advice would be to get a taxi , depending on where u are stopping in Athens it is quite cheap ( from our hotel about 7-8 Euro’s each way ) if u go to the expo on the Saturday my advice would be to go as soon as it opens as it gets incredibly busy and u will be queuing to get in and it becomes a chore instead of been enjoyable ,  I have now started going on the Friday after we have dropped our things off at our hotel and then Saturday is a chilling day , where are u stopping ? , let me know if u need any other useless information , cheers Martin 
  • Martin, you're a mine of useful info, thanks for these v valuable tips! (especially the EXPO bit. i find them a bit overwhelming at the best of times so will make an early start.) I'm staying at the Radisson & like you, I'm planning to have a relaxing Saturday with my feet up. Forecast is looking good currently: 18c & sunny :smile:
  • Hi gje , is yours the radison blu ? , we are in the Athens gate hotel which is in crawling distance ( after the marathon ) that is from the Olympic stadium where we finish , think your hotel is a bit further out , if u get time on the fri aft or sat go down to the stadium and watch them setting up , it is an awesome sight , there is a museum in the stadium ( not visible from outside ) which is under the stands on the left hand side as you go in which is well worth looking at , it is home to Olympic torches from the games going back many years and old photographs , only a couple of Euro’s to get in and u can get headseats for commentary as u walk round , weather has been warm every year at the start of the race ( mid 60s ) at 9am , though it is unpredictable so be prepared ( sun tan cream at the start) if it’s looking warm , it did rain last year all day on our last day ( Tuesday ) so that turned into a marathon drinking session , don’t know if ur planning on doing the acropolis , if u have time ( don’t know when u fly back ) leave it till after the marathon as it is hilly and tiring walking round it for several hours , cheers Martin 
  • that’s the yorkshire marathon out of the way 3.58.34 , now bring on Athens , hope the weather is going to be better than the heavy rain we had in york , think I’ll be realistically looking at about 4.10 in Athens but it also depends on the weather 
  • Hi all, I've signed up to this too. This will be my first marathon. Hoping to get in under 4 hours, but with the hills and the weather, I'm not too sure...

    I do have a big favour to ask though. My flight won't land in Athens in time on Saturday to collect my bib number. They've told me that someone can collect on my behalf though; all they need is a copy (not original) of my ID to pick up mine when they pick up theirs. So, even though we're perfect strangers, is this something one of you would be happy to do?

    I'm more than happy to pay you a bunch for your time/effort/trust - especially since otherwise it means changing the flights.

    Sorry to ask this, I feel very foolish. Anyway, reply to this or PM if you can.
    All the best,
    Luke
  • Hi Luke , no problems , I’m more than happy to do that for u if it’s possible , guess your on an afternoon Aegean flight ? 
  • Hello Martin, gosh well done you for York! You're a machine doing another one so close; i doff my cap to you! Did my final 22 miles last week & think based on that run I'm aiming for anywhere between 4.02 & 4.20 - but as long as I get round & enjoy myself I'll be happy. Am counting down the days now & trying to keep a lid on it but this is proving difficult! Just watched a great video of the finish in the stadium & the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end :) ps today's weather for 11th is rain - maybe it'll be more like York that you think. am sure it will pass though.
  • Hi gje , thanks for that , it’s a couple of years since I have got under 4 hrs so delighted , my best time in Athens is 3.59 but I can’t see that happening , probably similar to yourself between 4-4.20 , last year was 4.13 , that finish in the stadium is as special as it looks on video , plenty of time for the weather to change , the last 6 years it has been warm and sunny for the spectators sat in the stadium watching us finish , just hope it’s not too warm 
  • Looking a bit warm in Athens on Sunday to be running 26.2 miles so don’t forget the sun tan cream 
  • Right ho then Martin, sun cream duly packed. As is my trusty hat. Got me round Majorca marathon (27-31 degrees). Looking forward to it all! 
  • Running the marathon too. Kind of worried about the hills and heat. A deadly double H combo. Is it worthwhile wearing a cap. Good luck to all running if too. It’s the final countdown now 😅
  • Oh you will be fine then gje if it’s only 19-21 degrees , def worth wearing a hat as well as sun cream , wasn’t too bad last year as even though it was warm there was a fair amount of cloud around , don’t worry about the hills toxicmango , they are only gentle hills ( but just go on for about 7 miles ) 
  • Thanks - have bought a cap - just never ran with it in training 😂😂 at airport now about to head out / excited and nervous 
  • Have a good journey toxicmango and good luck for Sunday , I will be wearing my team gb vest with a poppy ( Remembrance Sunday ) 
  • Martin: thanks for being such a good running companion & a good sport all round: it was lovely to finally meet you and chat. the finish in the stadium was just as you said: awesome & something never to be forgotten. i made my plane to Dubai & enjoyed my holiday. thanks for all your help with questions. good luck next year!
  • hi there GJE , so nice to hear from u and sorry for not replying sooner ,glad you enjoyed it and enjoyed the finish , great time too , my slowest marathon 4.45 ish I think , the sickness I had the week leading up to the race caught up with me and I felt weak in the second half of the race , if it hadn't been for u I would have been over 5hrs for sure , great photos of u during the race on marathon photos.com [shame I was on some of them ] ,glad u made your flight and enjoyed your holiday , lovely to meet , have a great xmas and a happy new year and have a good new year running , martin
  • Does anyone know when the registration opens for the 2019 Athens marathon and is it hard to get in. Kind regards Glyn
  • > @Hagler said:
    > Does anyone know when the registration opens for the 2019 Athens marathon and is it hard to get in. Kind regards Glyn

    Hi @Hagler, last year registration was opened on April 18th and didn't close until September. I registered early and got in with no issues, although they didn't send the confirmation email for a few months (which was quite common, so don't let that worry you too much.).
  • Thank you so much for getting back
    AnAussieRunnerinLon  really looking forward to doing Athens 
  • No worries Hagler. It's a great run, you'll have shivers down your spine as you run into the Panthenaic Stadium toward the finish line.
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