Divris The Hard Trail, Ilia 20190922

New race in my "neighborhood"! Just an hour drive from Patras in village called Lampeia, but the historical name is Divris and so was the name of the race: "Divris The Hard Trail". The name was also correct in the "hard" part...
First ~12-13k (which actually was the route of smal race), were fairly easy. The climb had quite a grade, but nothing crazy, and was done on a nice path. The descent was a bit tricky at the beginning but only for a very short section from the peak to the forest (probably not even 1k). From the forest, a nice curvy path was perfectly runnable, and last 4k were on dirt road - wide and fast - back to the village.
The second ~17k loop was muuuuuch harder. It started off from the village with pleasant climb until kilometer 16th. Then from the AID station, a huge climb without any visible path started. Then a quick downhill to ADI station at kilometer 20th... Still going well, but legs got their pounding.
From 20 to 23 was THE climb of the race! more than 1000m in less then 3k! with really demanding last part to the peak, without path, full of stones and high grass that prevent You from seeing where You step! And since I had problems digesting the foods, I was out of the energy not even half way through the climb :( Eventually I got to the peak (already abandoned any thoughts about good time at the finish line) and just when I thought - ok, the race is pretty much over, lets go down to the village - the descent appeared to be even more technical than the climb from the other side! Well, at least for first 2k... When I got through these technical 2k, I finally reached forest again and a nice path back to the village. Since I was climbing pretty slow, and then descending the technical part also very slow, I actually felt very fresh at last kilometers... and managed to finish "in style" :-P with quick descent via village to the finish line on the main square... Time, well, not that great, 5:45 or sthg like that, but I was 11th overall and got the cup for 2nd place in 30-39 age category (mostly because first 3 athletes were from my age category and so finishing 5th got me the 2nd place rewards :-P).
Cool race overall, but HARD and needs a proper training before... I will keep it in mind for the next year