Athens Classic Marathon

A Bowland vest in the streets of Athens

It probably is a first for Bowland club colours to be seen in the streets of Athens! I had for some time been thinking of running a road marathon and the obvious choice for me was the ‘Athens Classic Marathon’, which this year was run on Sunday November 10^th. My preparation included some road training in Liverpool and the Congleton half marathon in early October. The route from the town of Marathon to the centre of Athens is fairly hilly, varying between sea level and 250m. Marathon day was a sunny day and it felt quite hot at times but with feeding stations every 2.5km there was plenty of water available to cool down with. All along the route we were entertained by numerous music bands and cheered by enthusiastic spectators. The organisation of the event was superb and the finish in the old marble stadium of Athens was an amazing experience. I ran a steady race and my time of 3:49:52 exceeded my expectations. Event website.