Athens Marathon. The Authentic.

Athens at the heart of the Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, Gladys Cherono and Mare Dibaba are the candidates for the 2015 AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards

Athens, the birthplace of the Marathon, will be the focus of attention for the international running scene for three days from November 6 to 8. 

Firstly the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) will honour the best marathon runners of the year with the 2015 AIMS Best Marathon Runner (BMR) Awards, at an international Gala to be held in the evening of Friday, November 6. The next day will be marked by the Opening Ceremony for the “Athens Marathon. The Authentic”. This is followed by the high point of the Athens Marathon itself, on Sunday, where the organisers expect more than 16,000 runners to participate.

3ème édition du semi-marathon d’Athènes.

Dimanche prochain, le 4 mai, la capitale grecque accueillera la 3ème édition du semi-marathon d’Athènes. Encouragées par la présence de 12.000 participants, 50% de plus par rapport à l’année dernière, les autorités comptent institutionnaliser le semi-marathon qui a vu la lumière en plein crise économique, il y a trois ans. 

Outre le semi-marathon dont le départ et la fin sont prévus à la place de la Constitution (Plateia Syntagmatos), se déroulent une course de 5 km, une de 3 km alors qu´une course de 600m est prévue spécialement pour les personnes handicapées, avec un circuit dans la ville. Le semi-marathon d’Athènes sera pour les participants une occasion de s’entraîner pour le marathon authentique d’Athènes qui sera organisé le 9 novembre 2014 sur le tracé de la route suivie par Philippides en 490 avant JC, entre la ville de Marathon et Athènes et ayant comme terminal le stade olympique des Jeux Olympiques de 1896 (Panathinaikon Stadion). 

Le semi marathon est co-organisé par l’ Organisation de la Culture, des Sports et de la Jeunesse de la ville d'Athènes, et l'Association Hellénique d'Athlétisme Amateur (SEGAS).

The 3rd Athens Half Marathon to be held next Sunday.

The Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS) and the Municipality of Athens joined forces over the last years and co-organized for the first time in history of the city a mass sport event exclusively held in the streets of the city centre. The Athens Half Marathon was held for the first time on May 2012, while the 2nd Athens Half Marathon was held on March 31st, 2013. Both events experienced major success not only as its organization but as to massive participation as well. 

The City of Athens was brightened by the smiles of more than 10,000 runners and spectators-citizens of Athens who flooded the city, cheering the participants and applauding the personal triumph of each one of them, proving that there is always a way to move forward and achieve more. On the race day, Athens was flooded by thousands of people who seized the opportunity to enjoy the city’s beauty running in the streets of a city free of vehicles. A unique celebration mood characterized both previous events and has set the pace in order for the Athens Half Marathon to be established as an annual key event for the city and its people.

The resonance and appeal of the Athens Half Marathon has left the country’s boundaries. Organizations for all around the world are already planning their participation in the 3rd Athens Half Marathon to be held on May 04, 2014, and this increased interest by itself raises the expectations and responsibilities of the Organizers towards each individual participant and the whole of the Greek society. The Athens Half Marathon on the opening of the tourist season inaugurates a new chapter in t he city’s life.

The Athens Half Marathon is acknowledged as a major national, cultural, tourist and sport event, addressed to all citizens not only of Athens but of the entire country with its four different races (Half Marathon, 5km Road Race, 3km Road Race, 700m race for people with disabilities).

The Athens Half Marathon Organizing Committee invites all runners from around Greece and abroad to join us and take part in this year’s event on May 04, 2014 and lighten again with their smiles the city of Athens.

Rally Acropolis 2014. First position for Breen and the Peugeot 208!

Craig Breen with his Peugeot 208 T16 made his first official appearance and managed to put his name on the list of the Acropolis Rally winners! It was also the winning debut for the 208 R5 and the first time in the career of the Irish driver to step up on the top of the podium, both in the ERC and internationally. 

He was in fact the winner beyond any doubt since he was on the lead of the overall classification during both days of the rally. Today he faced no problems on the gravel stages and, in fact, not even the counter attack of Bryan Bouffier with his Citroen DS3 RRC was capable of threatening him. On the contrary, whenever needed he speeded up in the special stages, managing in the end to celebrate an impressive win which made the organizers of the Eurosport event to award him with the "Colin McRae Trophy", a prize given to the most spectacular driver of each ERC round.

The second position of the podium was taken by the French Bryan Bouffier, former official test driver of Hyundai, who despite his famous performances on tarmac, was determined to push today on gravel, although without achieving the win. That being said, it is certain that he could have managed to lead in the rally if he had avoided the three mistakes during the two days of the rally that cost him precious time. In any case, his work was not easy since at the beginning of Leg 2, Kajetan Kajetanowicz and his Ford Fiesta R5 were close behind him, pushing for the second overall position. Nevertheless, in the middle of the day, the French speeded up causing the less experienced Poland Rally Champion to fall back in time. Nonetheless, Kajetanowicz gained important points for the rest of the Championship.

Further behind, at the fourth overall position, lies Esapekka Lappi and his factory supported Skoda Fabia S2000. The talented Finn, although he is considered to be one of the key players of ERC, was not competitive in today's gravel stages. Being himself a winner in Latvia Rally, he argued that it would be difficult with R5 and RRC cars since his S2000 was not powerful enough. The fifth position was won by the Portuguese Bruno Magalhaes with his Peugeot 207 S2000 who was troubled throughout the rally by both poor tyre choice and car setup. Anyhow, the former Portugal Rally Champion is more than happy for the final result as he has minimum participation in gravel rallies over the past years. From Rally Azores he will be competing with a Peugeot 208 T16 R5. A few steps behind him lay the Russian Vasily Gryazin with his Ford Fiesta S2000, who was faster on his favorite gravel surfaces today. In fact, had he avoided the flat tyre at the start of the day, he would have managed to take the fifth position from Magalhaes. Jaroslav Orsak with a Skoda Fabia S2000 and Jean Michel Raoux with his Peugeot 207 S2000 were at the seventh and eighth positions, respectively.

The big drama was played at the Production Category, with the leader Erdi Tibor Jr. and his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX finishing the last special stage Loutraki 2 with a broken rear suspension, preventing him from reaching the last service park and completing the rally. Thus, the winner of this category was Vitaliy Pushkar with a Lancer EVO X, who also finished the last special stage with problems at the front suspension of his Mitsubishi. Equally exciting proved to be the 2WD category, when the leader of the rally until the penultimate special stage, Zoltan Bessenyey and his Honda Civic Type-R, was passed by the Italian Simone Tempestini. Nonetheless, neither he managed to smile, since the engine of his DS3 R3T failed him at the last stage and the victory passed to the Russian Evgeny Sukhovenko and his Renault Clio R3. Typical Acropolis! Today the Acropolis Rally signaled also the second round of the Greek Championship, with Lambros Kirkos and his Lancer EVO IX being first, followed by Grigoris Nioras and a Subaru Impreza N12 and the Cypriot Kiriakos Kiriakou with a Subaru Impreza N14.

The 60th Acropolis Rally closed with the typical Award Ceremony at the crowded Service Park at Loutraki.