Day 188 – EU – Greece [Elefsina to Athens]

28/08/20

41km

  From Elefsina (Greece) to Athens (Greece)

Europe

Running into Athens, getting lost around the Aigaleo mountain – and a stunning finish at the Panathenaic Stadium

Today’s run started with quiet countryside roads. Then quickly turned into a run through Athens’ largest industrial areas: petroleum companies mostly. Running into such areas means that Google Maps got most of the roads blurred out. Ie: you can see the outlines of the roads but you cannot zoom in or go at pedestrian level to check what the terrain looks like.

With such uncertainty, I set out running, having failed to foolproof the full itinerary. It did not take long to backfire! By km18, I reached a deadend. The mountain road I was directed to led to a landfill, the alternative path being a military zone not accessible to the public – I was left with the main road. I backtracked and it resulted in my running through the whole industrial estate once again!

I was glad when it ended. I ran around the Aigaleo mountain, one of the 4 main mountains surrounding Athens. I enjoyed the run down the main avenue towards the centre of the city – though it obviously had all the flipsides of running in urban areas: uneven pavements, cars parked on the sides, bins in the middle of the path, pedestrians on the way… a difficult running environment for me and BoB the Stroller.

The arrival in the centre, past the Academy of Arts, the Square of the Constitution (Parliament) through the National Gardens… and into the marbled Olympic stadium… was worth all the trouble! I am glad I have reached Athens, this is a very meaningful landmark for me. I spent over 5 years of my life there, have many friends there and this is also the city where I started running.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: