Course guide · November
Map, elevation profile and full guide to the Athens Marathon course, the original marathon: where it goes, where the great climb is, and why its finish at the Panathenaic Stadium is the most historic in the world.
Course · 42.195 km
The Athens Marathon route is the original: the same path that, by legend, Pheidippides ran 2,500 years ago. It's a point-to-point course starting in the town of Marathon and finishing in the heart of Athens, at the marble stadium where the modern Olympic Games were reborn in 1896.
This is not a course for a personal best: between kilometres 10 and 31 it climbs one of the longest, hardest ascents of any major marathon. This guide walks you through where it goes, what its profile is like and what you'll find in each section.
The race starts in the town of Marathon, by the tomb honouring the Athenian soldiers who fell in the battle of 490 BC. It's the exact point from which, by tradition, the messenger set off for Athens. Few places in running carry as much history as this start line.
This is the heart of the course. After a few gentle opening kilometres near the coast, the route starts to climb and keeps climbing for more than 20 kilometres. It's a sustained gradient, never brutal but relentless, which makes the Athens Marathon one of the toughest in the world among major city marathons.
Over the high point at km 31, the course finally drops toward the city down Mesogeion Avenue. The legs arrive battered from the climb, but the descent and the Athens atmosphere push you through the final kilometres, increasingly urban and lined with crowds.
The ending is unique in the world: the Panathenaic Stadium, built entirely of white marble, home of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Running into that stadium, the stands rising on both sides, is the reward for one of the most demanding and symbolic marathons there is.
Free · downloadable PDF
The full course as a PDF plus the tips that actually matter: what to do the days before, how to plan race morning (breakfast, gels, timings) and how to recover afterwards. We'll email it to you.
It's a point-to-point course: it starts in the town of Marathon, by its historic tomb, passes Nea Makri and Pikermi during the long climb, and descends Mesogeion Avenue into Athens to finish at the marble Panathenaic Stadium.
It's demanding. Between kilometres 10 and 31 there's a sustained climb of more than 20 km, one of the toughest in the world among major marathons. A descent into the city follows. It's not a course designed for a personal best.
The start is in the town of Marathon, around 42 km from the capital. The finish is at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the marble stadium of the first modern Olympic Games of 1896.
Athens Marathon. The Authentic is held in November, usually on the second Sunday. It has been run in its modern format since 1972 over the original historic course.
Yes. At Ubyssal the Athens Marathon course is already preloaded. Just enter your name and time, choose a colour and format, and you get a personalised poster with the exact route you ran. Available as a downloadable PDF from €14.99.
Your route on the wall
The route is already preloaded. Add your name and your time and create your personalised Athens Marathon poster. From €14.99.
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