Two weeks after the Snowdonia Marathon and I was off to Greece for the Athens Classic Marathon. It was warm and sunny in Athens when we arrived on Saturday but the following morning we awoke to the sound of heavy rain. The race started in the town of Marathon at 9am which meant catching a bus from the centre of Athens at 6:30am.
The weather at the start was pretty miserable but at least it was fairly cool for running.
The route from Marathon to the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens follows the coast for the first 10k before heading inland and uphill for the next 20k and then dropping down to the finish.
I completed the race in 4hrs 45' 23" having found it a lot tougher than I'd expected. The fact that I'd run a marathon two weeks earlier (and a tough one at that) must have had an effect on my energy levels so I was fairly happy with my efforts in Athens.
Next year's race is the 2500th anniversary of the battle of Marathon so I may be tempted to go back for another attempt at the classic course.
