1st Elinikon Cross Country Race 2016, Arcadia 20160910

First edition of this race and also my first 50k mountain race (first above marathon distance). I have visited this part of Greece, the Lousios gorge, in the past and knew that the route will be awesome!

Start from Elliniko, which is probably the least known from all the local villages like Dimitsana and Stemnitsa, but is equally beautiful. It was 7AM and we got great views to the gorge with morning fog still sitting down in the valley, making the hills look like islands (I really hope I will find some photos later in the web to post here...). First ~8km where on dirt roads but in average shape so few sections felt like almost on trail. Anyway it was rather easy start. I decided to keep it really slow and look at my HR not to exceed 135-140bpm range, while most of the runners pushed it quite fast! Knowing I have 50k to do, I am glad I didnt join them in this rush... It was hard to tell which position I was at this point since both 25k and 50k races had joint start and followed same route for first ~13km. The weather was perfect, with not more than 15-16C and still sun hidden behind the mountains, no wind at all.
After 8km dirt road finished and we entered small ascending path for about 2km to reach first AID station. At that point I was running together with two guys, one doing the big race with me, other running the half marathon. I took my time at the station (this is now my 'strategy' :-P in the big races) eating different foods and drinking whatever was available (quite a decent choice!). My two companions already left, but I caught them within 1km. Another 2-3km where with asphalt road to reach the entrance to the Lousios gorge, still descending and still very easy.
After passing archeological site with stone bridge, the race finally entered the path into the gorge. For about 1k it was still descending to reach small bridge and climb towards the monastery of Prodromou, where the two races split. So I was left with one runner to descent a bit back to the river and climb to another monastery of Philosophou to reach 2nd AID station. This section went pretty smooth, my legs were very fine and a bit of climbing didnt bother me at all. We passed one runner just before the monastery (he was looking pretty tired which felt strange so early in the race?!). The gorge itself was awesome, pure nature, full of shadow and nice cool temps.
Due to my longer stays at the stations, my companion left again before me, when I was still drinking my 5th cup of water :-P I had to stop later for a quick pee and also got lost a bit on short asphalt section (missed the exit to the next path :-/) so I did not catch to the guy in front until next AID. Anyway, it was still a pleasant part of the race, still in the gorge and even though the profile said it will be ascending for the most part, it didnt feel like that... nice! Just before reaching Paleochori and 3rd AID, on a very short climb (maybe 100m or so) the path was full of water and both my shoes and socks got completely wet :-/ Not a big deal at the moment, but I was really afraid it will turn into some nasty blisters 1-2h later...
Stop at Paleochori was pretty much routine one! Same portions of different foods, lots of fluids. When I arrived, the other runner left so I knew I should catch on him before Dimitsana (one of the biggest villages in the area that was about 2k from Paleochori, strangely they did not organize the station there?!). And I did, pretty much in the village itself. We passed Dimitsana quite fast and entered short but steep path to get out of the village, reach the church of Agia Paraskevi and from there continue with dirt road to Zigovitsi (half of the race!).
The dirt road section again seemed easier than I thought it will be. It was about 3.5k with ~200m elevation gain, but it felt like flat all the way... strange, but very welcome :-D So, half of the race was gone, probably the easier half but still it counts. It took me 3h so I was pretty much on my schedule for 6h15m! I stocked up very well before leaving since it was all about climbing from here to the next station, 6k/+500m. Very soon my companion started to walk a lot more than me and distance between us grew every minute. And after 20-25min after Zigovitsi I couldn't even see him even on longer stretches with wide open view. Anyway, we (well I from now on) entered awesome forest with nice soft paths! Great section, very wild nature, something You dont see much in southern Greece... Since I was alone, I was paying much more attention to navigating correctly through the forest with markings from the race and some signposted hiking routes and also looking at GPS from time to time. With all that 'help' I arrived at 5th AID station located in the middle of nowhere in the forest. A bit of company was very welcome :-D Since I left my previous companion behind, it was time to check out how much in front another runner is? (I was currently 6th, chasing the 5th guy). The volunteers at each station write down the BIB number of every runner together with time of arrival. So they informed me that I am 6min behind! Nice! Very little difference considering the race! But anyway, I did not rush anything and kept my routine with long stops. Of I went for a short but steep climb (to reach the highest point of the race at ~1550m) and later very steep technical downhill! I did not expect that! It went very slow and my legs got a bit of pounding, which I did not like at 35th km (still more than 15k to go...). I reached some forest road at some point and a bit later missed again exit to the path! This time I didn't realize that so quickly as previously and lost about 2:00-2:30 time :-/ (funny thing is that when I checked my strava file later, also other runners missed that spot!) Still continuing on technical forest paths I reached 6th AID station, again in the middle of nowhere :-P The bad news was I was still exactly 6min behind 5th runner, of course the good news was I was actually catching on him since I lost ~2min loosing the route.
Standard station stop and off I went for a bit of a climb first, then more technical but flat part and descent towards the 7th station - all this still in the deep forest. And I was still keeping my strengths and walking most of the climbs (even easy ones). The idea was I will try to push on last 10k when descending back to Stemnitsa and later Elliniko.
So I arrived at 7th station, 40k in the race, about 11-12k to go, end of forest and only downhill left, 5min behind runner in front, legs in very good shape! All good news :-D All pumped up I left at full speed really pushing on quite a technical paths. Since I was out of forest and it was 12:00 in the noon, the heat became new factor! And my wet feet from about 3h ago as well! All this + stone path very quickly cause blisters and pain in my right foot :-/ All this was bothering me but was not a stopper to chase for the 5th position :-P
Finally I saw Stemnitsa village and just as I entered it I also saw the 5th runner! Great! I managed to cut all 5min even before Stemnitsa and still had 5k to go to pass him. We arrived at the central square (AID station) pretty much together, but I think he was surprised and left very fast without proper rest nor drink nor food - huge mistake! I took my standard time and left maybe 1min later to catch him not more than 500m from the station! We still did tiny climb out of the village together but than on fast asphalt downhill I overtook him and within 1k section I built quite a comfortable advantage. Last 3k were on technical stone path, but I did not need to push that hard! Finished in Elliniko in 6:01:33! ~15min under my scheduled time! And of course in 5th position - also great for a first 50k race :-D

One of the best mountain races I did! The route and the organization was perfect! I hope it will stay on the calendar and that I will run it again!