Day 209 – EU – Greece [Thessaloniki to Kilkis]

18/09/20

48km

  From Thessaloniki (Greece) to Kilkis (Greece)

Europe

Great support from the local running clubs, a navigation error and a very warm welcome into Kilkis

I was met this morning by Dimitris and Iraklis from the Thessaloniki Running Club. Dimitris is the head of the club and both men are accomplished ultra mountain runners. I was in good company. So much so that I did not pay much attention to the direction we were going. At some point I asked them if we were on the correct road. Rightfully they did not know, after all, it’s my plan! A quick check later… we were not! That cost me about 4km extra for the day, that will teach me ?

Dimitris and Iraklis left me at km9. I continued heading north on the plains of Greek Macedonia, under a very cloudy sky and cool temperatures. A beautiful day for running. At km35 a truck stopped by and out came Stavros from the Kilkis running club, with a bag full of goodies: bananas, grapes, peanuts, ice cold water… what a very warm and amazing welcoming gesture.

Stavros is the father of two young daughters and they had both given him 1 Euro to give me as a show of support. I asked Stavros if he could give these two Euros, via the JustGiving link on my website, for the Charity I support “Women for Women International”. He was touched and very keen to do so. At the beginning of my journey, I had pledged to raise $1 for every km I run and that’s how anyone who wants can help me – by helping me achieve that goal. [the link is at the bottom of the webiste’s front page & in the “how to help” section too]

As I approached Kilkis, another group from the Kilkis Running Club was awaiting me. I was joined by Christos for the final 3km into town, whilst Kostas kept ambushing us with his handheld camera, driving ahead of us to try to capture our run on video too. I am meeting them all this evening for a drink. It seems I will have company on the run tomorrow 🙂

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: