Alexander The Great International Marathon

4.5 (4 Reviews)
Thessaloniki, Greece
01 Apr, 2018 (Sun)
Event size: 5000 - 9999 participants

Running

5 km, 10 km, 42.195 km

Races offered by this event

Alexander The Great International Marathon

01 Apr, 2018 (Sun)
Running
42.195 km
Race size: 1000 - 2499 participants
On site
Road

Alexander The Great International Marathon - 5 km

01 Apr, 2018 (Sun)
Running
5 km
On site
Road

Alexander The Great International Marathon - 10 km

01 Apr, 2018 (Sun)
Running
10 km
Race size: 2500 - 4999 participants
On site
Road

Course details

Course highlights

The race starts from Pella, in front of the statue of Alexander the Great on horseback, hardly a km from the homonym archaeological site, and some 43 meters above sea-level. After the first km of downhill road, the athletes get onto the Thessaloniki-Edessa highway, following it for another 8 km, until they reach Chalkidona.  At the 8th km the athletes enter the city of Chalkidona. At the 9th km they meet the junction Veroia and Thessaloniki. The 10th km is right after Chalkidona. At the 13th km the road passes through a bridge over the Axios River. The 15th km is before the village Gefyra. The 20th km is right after the exit for Agios Athanasios at the national highway. The 25th is a little after the crossroad of Nea Agchialos. The 28th km passes over Gallikos River. At the 30th km the athletes pass by Ionia (Diavata) The 35th km is in the center of Kordelio, in Monastiriou Street. At the 38th km the athletes turn right in Giannitson Street. At the 39th the runners turn right in Dafnis Street and then left in Kountouriotou Avenue. The 40th km is at the Courts of Thessaloniki. The 41st km and 42nd km run Nikis Avenue. The finish is at Thessaloniki coastal road – Megalou Alexandrou Avenue (Alexander the Great Statue)

Start address

Pella, Greece

Finish address

Alexander the Great Statue, Μέγας Αλέξανδρος, Thessaloniki, Greece

Route map

route map

What’s included in entry

These are included in your entry
Expo entry
Finisher medal
Event T-shirts
Drink Stations
Bag drop
Timing chip (single use)
Toilets
Goodie bag
Shuttle to Start Line
E-certificate/e-diploma
Nutrition Stations
Medical Assistance

Frequently Asked Questions

Reviews

4.5
4 Reviews
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Νεκτάριος Ταμπουρας
Country flag of GR
Apr 2022
42.195 km

Very good route Bad time Very hot

Very nice

user avatar
Marilyn Pasno
Country flag of US
5 km

Awesome !!! Awesome !!! Awesome!!! It was a beautiful, amazing experience to mingle with the Runners‘ energy and joy for fitness and challenge to herald the news of GOOD TIDINGS of Fitness, Love and Peace around us (despite some inhumane turmoil around other countries now). My delight and excitement were at a peak to be a 5K Finisher in my FIRST 5Km Run outside of my native land and chosen homeland, the Philippines and the USA, respectively. Despite the odds of my quite stiff Left Knee, I faced the Thessaloniki, Greece Run Challenge this year, fulfilling a dream come true: joining the grace of the rich history of Greece/Macedonia, its beautiful people who helped me and my husband Albin all the way to move around Thessaloniki with ease, and the bottom line of simply FunRunning to count our blessings. That was an unforgettable blessing to experience the Kindness of the Marathon/Runs’ cool ORGANIZERS, the immeasurable help of VOLUNTEERS, the spontaneous warmth of Runners and people around me (and my husband) who guided us for a very pleasant, brief stay in Thessaloniki. The Road Tracks especially the Coastal Road (Nikis Avenue) were easy to handle but appeared VERY VERY SPECIAL to end at the Marathon’s Finish Line, the Statue of Alexander the Great, the Common Finish Line for ALL the Runners.. Overall Run Experience in three words: AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME !!! I want to come back to try the Full Marathon Challenge, God-willing… in the near Future.

The 5Km as my Favorite Distance, Thessaloniki’s Tracks (City roads, Coastal road) were safe and great. The Security, the Spectators, the Welcomers, and the Volunteers simply gave me and the other Runners a lot of boost to finish the Run. The coastal road gave us the cool breeze of the Thermaic Gulf (Aegean Sea) on a midday Sun. It’s a beautiful thing that the Organizers include and respect other Run Distances like 10K, 5K, and 1K (for young students). Being 65 at this time with healthy body and spirit, RUNNING 5K is not only a challenge. RUNNING itself serves as an INSPIRATION. It is an Inspiration to Welcome our sound body and mind while we are still able and willing to move around. More so, RUNNING is one OPPORTUNITY to explore every path that we take… from here, to there, to everywhere …This OPPORTUNITY, however, is not forever. One CUTE notable experience: The Bananas ran out at my arrival time past the Finish Line at 1:54 PM, after receiving my Finisher’s Medal. Not a problem at all; I still got the water bottle and the 7-Vitamins tetra-pack drinks; also, the wife of One 5K Finisher handed me one big Banana on the outside of the barricaded Finish Line near the Statue of Alexander the Great; at random, another person handed me one more banana for my husband. Another CUTE Testimony: my pleasure to meet Very Kind people like them; they are like HEROES feeding strangers like us; similarly, the BANANAS are akin to HEROES to feed and hydrate Runners like me.

user avatar
Bartosz Stodolski
Country flag of GB

Great Marathon but the route its self bit boring

user avatar
Bartosz Stodolski
Country flag of GB
42.195 km

The Marathon route itself is poor but easy and great to make the PB, if you will run just on your own better if have a earphones with you so you can listen the music, otherwise will be boring. There is nothing special on this route nothing to see nothing to watch etc. The Marathon is very safe, police blocking the routes , a lot of drinking points toilets etc. The atmosphere its not so great , there is no much interest of the Marathon only a bit of the end finish. The town is just stunning so is worth it to be there and see this lovely location. I will definitely get back there to make my PB !!!

I think is the best route to do your PB its easy and smooth. The Marathon route is very safe and clear so if you want to do your personal best this is the best place to be.

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News: Running

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Focus on a raceInterview

Alexander The Great International Marathon

14 Apr, 2014 (Mon)

Credit : Alexander The Great Internatinal Marathon This week’s interview has been conducted by Niandi Carmon from sdpo.com. Before taking part in the Alexander the Great Marathon, in Thessaloniki, Greece, Niandi had the opportunity to meet Giorgis Karagiannis, its organizer. First what got you involved in race organization? Well I was a professional runner and when my running career was over I decided to go into Race Organization to give back to the sport what it had given to me. Can you tell me a little about how the Alexander the Great Marathon started? The idea germed in 2005 at the local Triton Club meetings. At the time Athens Marathon was the only well-known road marathon in Greece. We thought it would be a great idea if the second largest city in Greece, Thessaloniki hosted a marathon too and so 2006 saw the birth of the 1st edition of the Alexander the Great Marathon. §staticmap(9831,5,450,250) How would you describe the course? It’s a point to point course starting in Pella the birthplace of Alexander the Great and the ancient capital of Macedonia. It starts in front of the statue of Alexander the Great and finishes at the White Tower in Thessaloniki the present capital of Macedonia, in front of the statue of Alexander the Great on horseback. So the route is very historical and symbolic of Ancient Greece and present day Greece. The course is flat with long stretches of road and thus fast so an ideal course for a PB. What is the course record (male/female)? For men it’s held by a Kenyan runner: 2:11:37 and the female record is held by an Algerian 2:28. Neither of these was broken this year. Are there any other races organized around the marathon? There’s a 5km and a 10km as well as a 1km fun run for kids all on the same day as the marathon. What kind of runner do you hope to attract to the event? We have invited elite runners to the event but we presently don’t have the budget to invite too many. We’re hoping to attract more international runners – keen and passionate everyday marathon runners who wish to travel and discover another city and culture and why not aim for a PB with a flat fast course and ideal weather conditions. What has been the increase in field from 2006 to 2014? And how do you explain this? Double in 2013? The recession probably has something to do with the massive increase from 800 runners all races combined in 2006 to 14800 in 2014 strangely enough. You don’t need much to run, just a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and run shoes. Having said this, the success of Thessaloniki has come as no surprise to me – I believed it would take off from the beginning and this is only a start. Credit : Alexander The Great Internatinal Marathon What kind of weather can runners expect this time of the year? Ideal weather for a marathon – 14°C to 18°C. It’s not hot this time of the year but not cold either – just right. The symbol behind the flame ceremony? Peace, sharing, bringing people together in difficult times – in a nutshell the Olympic spirit! Can you tell us a bit about the charities you support? We support quite a few charities: ELEPAP the Greek Company of Protection of Disabled Children, DESMOS who organize collection of diapers and milk powder for the needy children in Thessaloniki, Adoption Donation and Children’s Villages SOS. The Lonely Planet rated Thessaloniki as the 5th party city in the world. What would you recommend pre and post-race for runners to make the most of their time here? Definitely the restaurants – Thessaloniki is famous for its good food and fine dining. Then there is the café culture, the night-life which goes on throughout the night, sight-seeing in the old parts of the city and for those who prefer farniente there are our beautiful beaches The marathon is part of AIMS which you also promote. Tell us a bit about the organization. AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) is a member based organization of more than 350 of the world’s leading distance races, from over 100 countries & territories. We exchange information and work closely with the IAAF to ensure race standards are met. There are many other marathons on the same day as yours! 3 words to sell your marathon! Greek food, Greek hospitality and a lot of fun. Credit : Alexander The Great Internatinal Marathon Niandi Carmont, is a passionate ultra-runner who’s been travelling the world for the past 18 years in search for new experiences. She is also the UK representative of SDPO (Sport Développement Organization Performance) second largest French multi-stage race organization with 20 years experience in multi-stage events on the Silk Route in China and India.
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