Day 196 – EU – Greece [Lamia to Paralia Rachon]

05/09/20

35km

  From Lamia (Greece) to Paralia Rachon (Greece)

Europe

A shorter day of running, company the whole way and a finish by the sea

Yesterday evening I met for coffee with the Lamia Runners as well as the vice-mayor of the city. As we talked I realised Giannis (of the Lamia Runners) is the organiser of the Hercules mountain marathon, which I ran 11 years ago when I lived in Greece. A very beautiful race on trails, quite challenging going up the mountains on steep uphills and a finish at the local village with typical warm welcome from the community. We shared memories and eventually they decided to meet and run alongside me for a part of tomorrow’s run.

At 6am sharp Giannis, Christos, Maria and Loukas were waiting for me. For the first time in 168 marathon days, I was not wearing my signature red t-shirt. I was wearing the blue shirt of the Hercules Marathon, a gift of Giannis. I received another gift from the Mayor of Lamia and we stopped at km2 this morning to pose for a picture in the white Lamia City shirt! Giannis, Christos and Maria left me by km3, at the outskirts of the city. And Loukas went with me the whole way.

Loukas is a mountain guide and a very accomplished runner in his own right. In 2011, with his friend Misto, he ran the entire length of Greece and Crete – via the mountains of the “European E4 Mountain Path”. The feat was the first of its kind in Greece and took 30 days to complete. Loukas regaled me with tales of their journey. Snake bites, bear’s encounter and having to make their path where one didn’t exist… What an adventure and how privileged was I to get all of the stories first hand!

We chatted the whole way through. Loukas is involved as a technical consultant in the organisation of many mountain runs, triathlon and road races in Greece. Loukas can trace a path on any mountain guaranteed to give you the best memory of a run in nature you ever had! It is quite infectious when you meet someone that much consumed by their passion.

Today’s 35km were the fastest I had ever run since the world run began. It was a flat and downhill run, on quiet roads with no traffic at all, passing by olive groves and by the sea front. I am usually very conservative with my pace and I didn’t feel we overdid it today. We were at conversational pace the whole way and did not once worry about pace – we went with the flow…

I am glad today was a shorter day on the road. I was done by 10am, quite extraordinarily. My host today offered me to use their washing machine, so it’s one chore I don’t have to do. In all, this a perfect day to relax, enjoy a sea swim and take it all in.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: