Sunday 12 June: 130 km Xylokastro - Thiva

At 9:00 we left Xylokastro and headed towards Thiva, about 130 kilometres of running. We started off running across a long stretch of dazzling coastline, the turbid blue waters on our left, fresh and energising.

After crossing the channel of Korinthos we were very soon met by long winding stretches uphill, the sun scorching. This proved to be the biggest challenge of the day. Christoph, our new Austrian team member, got the toughest part: 5 km uphill in the blazing sun.

However, beautiful lavender-green pine forests covering the steep slopes provide some fresh and breath-taking scenery. The forests are grand and quiet. Running downhill is an exhilarating experience: flanked by the pine trees the runner speeds down, ahead of him a vast panorama of rolling hills, blue sea and azure sky stretching out far into the distance.

Well down at the foot of the hill the team delightedly engaged in some splashing about in the now emerald-green waters. Close to Thiva we met three enthusiastic Greeks who joined us for a short run.

The distance covered, we drove to Athens where we were to spend the night. Before that, though, we went out for dinner, which again was exquisite. Sitting by the seaside we were treated to a beautiful sunset. We followed the sun on its downward journey. It rested on the distant hilltops like a great white pearl, colouring the sky in pink and violet. It got smaller and smaller until it was no more. Darkness was descending, but lo, there was the crescent moon white and bright, and slowly the time approached for us to retire and stack up some energy for a new day.

Jan Klaile

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