Athens Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Athens Marathon. The Authentic follows the Original Marathon Course from the town of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the route that Spyros Louis ran to win the gold medal at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It is organised by SEGAS, the Hellenic Athletics Association, and is held on a Sunday in November. A 10 km road race runs on the same morning, and a 5 km race and a kids' race take place on the Saturday. The 2026 marathon starts at 08:30 and has an eight-hour time limit. It is a point-to-point road course and not a flat one. The first 4 km are slightly downhill and loop almost in a circle around the Tomb that commemorates the fallen of the Battle of Marathon, and km 6 to 10 near Nea Makri are flat. From km 11 the road climbs in parts, most steeply until about km 20, with further uphills through Pikermi and Pallini. The last and hardest part begins at Gerakas, where the Stavros junction at km 30-31 marks the top, and a long downhill follows through Agia Paraskevi. Near the finish the runners pass the Maximos Mansion, the Presidential Palace and the National Garden, then enter the stadium and run the last 170 metres on its tartan track. Since 1982 the race has been dedicated to Gregoris Lambrakis, an athlete and member of parliament who was murdered in the 1960s.