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PAINANI · RUN / LOCAL

68 · Attica, Greece

Athens Marathon

Run 42.195 km of road from Marathon to Athens, rising in stages from the 11th km to the 31st, finishing on tartan inside the Panathenaic Stadium.

Road runningRoad racePoint to point
42.2 kmDistanceHarderSite gradeAthensNearest base

Site grade

HarderFeatured

42.195 km with the organiser's own description of uphill running in parts from the 11th to the 17th km, a hard climb to the 20th km after the Rafina junction, more uphill through Pikermi and Pallini, and the last and most difficult section at the Stavros junction in the 30th and 31st km. Eleven kilometres of descent and flat follow it.

The experience

The first ten kilometres are downhill and flat and give the distance away cheaply. From the 11th km the road rises in stages until the Stavros junction in the 31st km, which the organiser names as the last and most difficult part of the course. Eleven kilometres of descent and flat into the city follow, on legs that have already done the work.

SEGAS calls this the Original Marathon Course: the road from the ancient city of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium on which Spyros Louis won the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The race finishes inside that stadium.

The race is organised by SEGAS, the Hellenic Athletics Association, on the course of the 1896 Olympic marathon. The event commemorates the messenger who carried news of the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and since 1982 it has been dedicated to Gregoris Lambrakis, the athlete and Member of Parliament murdered in the 1960s who became a symbol of human rights in Greece.

Where the sources disagreeEntry for 2026 is gone. The organiser lists every paid race as sold out, states that registrations are now closed, and set the final closure of the registration system at 25 September 2026; runners who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of an EU member state could only ever enter at the Full Registration Level of 165 euros, against 75 euros for the advanced level. The eight-hour limit is enforced with intermediate cut-offs every 2.5 km, from 5 km by 10:39 to 40 km by 17:25. Buses to the start are the organiser's transport and they leave early: 05:00 to 06:45 for the first wave, with the last bus out of Syngrou-Fix at 06:15, and Marathonos Avenue closes to traffic in both directions at 08:00. There is no clothing bag collection at the start on race day; bags must be handed in at the expo in Faliro between 4 and 7 November. The course itself is public road and can be run on any day of the year, but it is a working suburban avenue with traffic, not a closed corridor.

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Trail path

The line
you follow.

StartMarathon, East AtticaFinishPanathenaic Stadium, AthensDirectionPoint to point, north-east to south-west, from Marathon into the centre of Athens. Runners enter the Panathenaic Stadium on its left side, where the finish arch stands.
  1. 01Marathon start
  2. 02Marathon Tomb
  3. 03Nea Makri
  4. 04Rafina junction
  5. 05Pikermi
  6. 06Pallini
  7. 07Stavros junction
  8. 08Agia Paraskevi
  9. 09Mesogeion Avenue
  10. 10Vasilissis Sofias Avenue
  11. 11Panathenaic Stadium

Route sections

01 · The Free TenMarathon to the 10th km at Nea Makri
The first 200 metres are downhill out of the start facility and the first four kilometres are slightly downhill. At the 4th km the course turns into Marathonomachon Street and runs almost a full circle around the Tomb of the fallen of the Battle of Marathon before flattening out to the 10th km.02 · The Rafina Tilt10th km to the 20th km
From the 11th to the 17th km the road rises in parts, then drops steeply before the Rafina junction. From the junction the climbing restarts, and the organiser calls the section to the 20th km the most intense of this stretch.03 · Stavros20th km to the Stavros junction at the 31st km
Uphill and less uphill alternate through Pikermi to the 25th km, then Pallini between the 27th and 28th. From Gerakas the last and most difficult part begins and ends at the Stavros junction in the 30th and 31st km, at the point in a marathon where most runners are already spent.04 · The Marble DropStavros junction to the Panathenaic Stadium
A steep descent to the square of Agia Paraskevi, then Mesogeion Avenue through Chalandri and Cholargos, downhill past the Ministry of National Defence to the Katechaki junction at 37.5 km. Irodou Attikou Street at 41.2 km leads past the Presidential Palace and the National Garden to the stadium and 170 metres of tartan.

Weather profile

What the sky
is likely to do.

Attic autumn. At the Hellenic National Meteorological Service's Nea Filadelfia station in Athens, at 136 m, the November means for 1955 to 2010 are a minimum of 10.0 °C, a mean of 13.7 °C and a maximum of 18.1 °C. The start is at 08:30.

Season & timing

Managed seasonThe roads are public and open all year. The race is run once a year, on a Sunday in early November.Best windowRace day for the closed roads and the stadium finish; October and November for running the course independently, when the heat has gone.Race timingSunday 8 November 2026, start 08:30. The 10 km is on the same day; the 5 km, the universities night run and the children's races are on Saturday 7 November.SurfaceAsphalt road for the whole course, on Marathonos Avenue, Mesogeion Avenue and Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, ending on the last 170 metres of rubber tartan inside the Panathenaic StadiumDirectionPoint to point, north-east to south-west, from Marathon into the centre of Athens. Runners enter the Panathenaic Stadium on its left side, where the finish arch stands.

Signature moments

What you will
remember afterwards.

01

The loop around the Marathon Tomb in the 5th km

02

The steep drop before the Rafina junction

03

The long grind out of Gerakas to Stavros

04

Irodou Attikou Street and the Presidential Palace

05

The turn into the stadium and the 170 metres of tartan

FIRST RUN

1896

The course the first modern Olympic marathon used

SEGAS states that Spyros Louis won the marathon at the 1896 Olympic Games running what has since been called the Original Marathon Course, from the ancient city of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The race is run on that road.

Access & logistics

AccessOn race day the organiser buses runners to the start. The first wave, blocks 1 to 10, boards between 05:00 and 06:45 at six points in central Athens: Syngrou-Fix, Syntagma, Panepistimio, Evangelismos, Katechaki and Omonia. The last bus leaves Syngrou-Fix at 06:15. The second wave, blocks 11 to 15, boards between 06:30 and 07:45 at Ethniki Amyna, Cholargos, Katechaki and Nomismatokopio. Runners using their own transport must be at the start by 07:30 and should expect an 800 m walk from the drop-off.PermitsNone to run the road. The race requires registration with SEGAS; entry for 2026 is closed and every paid race is sold out.BookingsRegistration for 2026 closed on 25 September 2026 at the latest, and earlier in practice because the participation limits were reached. Race packs are collected at the expo at the Faliro Indoor Hall, 4 to 7 November 2026.WaterOn race day the organiser provides aid stations, the last of them at the 40th km in Eleftherias Park, and water, isotonic drinks, juice and bananas in the stadium forecourt after the finish. Off race day, carry your own.DurationA time limit of eight hours is set for the Marathon Race, with all finishes completed by 18:15 including the delay of the consecutive starts.

Key hazards

  • ▲Traffic on Marathonos and Mesogeion Avenues outside race day
  • ▲Twenty kilometres of cumulative climbing before the 31st km
  • ▲Sun exposure on open avenues
  • ▲Intermediate cut-offs enforced at each kilometre
  • ▲Early bus departures with no later transport to the start

SafetyOrientation only. Always use current official maps, instructions and safety guidance. Read the organiser's detailed instructions of participation before race day, note the intermediate cut-offs, and treat the course as open road with traffic on every other day of the year.

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Official sources

Last verified 2026-09-21 · Record CETC-RUN-068 · Orientation only. Always use current official maps, alerts and safety guidance.

Photograph: George E. Koronaios · CC BY-SA 4.0