Day 186 – EU – Greece [Loutra Elenis to Kineta]

26/08/20

40.5km

  From Loutra Elenis (Greece) to Kineta (Greece)

Europe

A fine day on the road, running the length of the Corinth Canal, out of the Peloponnese and into Attika

What can possibly go wrong when the day starts with such an awesome sunrise…? Lately I think the answer is: nothing, really! Another beautiful start at dawn, on a road that would be much flatter than the past few days. A bit of respite. But the real treat today would be to get to run the length of the Corinth Canal. I had been awaiting this.

I had been by Corinth a few times before, when I lived in Greece. But passing by car, or on my way somewhere on a bike, I never saw more of it than from one view-point. Today I went all the way from the Northernmost point of the canal, ran South to the middle of the canal, crossed the pedestrian bridge – watched as a boat made its way across the canal. Then ran on the Eastern side of the canal, having effectively left the Peloponnese. How beautiful!

The experience of the Canal this morning, running on the dirt trails, by its side, confirmed even more to me, that the way I am travelling the world gets me to see things in a way that is not achievable by any other means of transportation. When you are in a car, you may travel the same road I run. And stop a few times to snap a few pics. But at the pace I travel, I get to really absorb my environment one step at a time, all senses alert. And I get to see an angle on my surroundings that someone in a car would have gone too fast to notice.

Anyway, it was a really good day of running today. A bit on the hot side, but nothing like the heatwaves I had to deal with earlier this summer. From now on, the roads I will be running towards Athens and Marathon are very familiar roads, which I used frequently on my bike rides when I lived there. A very different experience on my two feet! Today I stay in another small seaside town, Kineta. My host today, Alexandra, went out of her way to make me feel comfortable. There was cold water for me on arrival, jam and biscuits as well as fresh orange juice. What a sweet welcome!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: