Day 195 – EU – Greece [Amfikleia to Lamia]

04/09/20

45km

  From Amfikleia (Greece) to Lamia (Greece)

Europe

A windy day up the mountain and down the valley with splendid views of the Malian Gulf

I started before dawn again this morning, knowing I would have to go through some uphill and it was going to be another long day of running. I went through two flat tyres in the first 30mn: it was pitch dark outside and I needed to run on the side of the road, as it would have been too dangerous to run on the tarmac. These bloody annoying prickly flowers must have punched about 20 holes in the tyres!

I kept going and as the sun came up, a dog appeared by my side, running in sync. A beautiful dog. He had a collar on his neck so I knew he belonged to one of the many farms around. After about a kilometer, he stopped and looked like he was turning back. I heaved a sigh of relief as the road was too narrow to be safe for the both of us. But just as I looked back at him one last time, a car appeared at low speed. I don’t know how, but the car eventually hit the poor dog, who winced in pain. I rushed to the side of the dog. He was still on his legs and hoped back towards the farm on three legs. I like having dogs running alongside, but this was always my main concern, that one would be hurt on the way… It was very upsetting, although it didn’t seem that the injury was bad. I shall never know.

The first part of the run was extremely windy today, as well as uphill. A fine combination for a slow run! I took it easy, knowing that by km19 things will feel easier. The landscapes were breathtaking. I was pretty much on my own amongst these very tall mountain ranges. Leaving Mount Parnassos behind and crossing the Oiti mountain range before going down towards the plains of Lamia.

Finally I could see the city of Lamia with 16km to go, at the end of a straight 12km road. It never seemed to get any closer to me! I am meeting tonight with the Runners of Lamia, and maybe I will get some company for the first few kilometers of tomorrow’s run, who knows 🙂

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: