The 10th Olympus Marathon took place on the Mountain of the Gods on Sunday 30 June with the participation of 575 runners, including 104 foreign athletes from 21 countries. They ran on the paths of the gods, honoring the race with their presence in spite of the many difficulties facing our country. This year too the competition was high among men as well as women. Present were the record holder of the race, Jessed Hernandez Gispert, as well as Greece’s top mountain runners. However, harsh weather conditions, very low temperatures and very strong winds at 2,200 m and up prevented the athletes from achieving good performances and tried their endurance. The winner was Greek champion Dimitris Theodorakakos with 4.44.54. In a grand fight Jessed Hernandez Gispert ended second (5.02.38), two minutes ahead of Jancek Bokoc (5.04.18). Among women, the Russian Zhanna Vokueva came first at 6.13.27. Next was Lora Repsenko at 6.24.06, while the first Greek – Amalia Matthaiou – came third at 6.39.13. Out of 575, 519 athletes ended within the official limit of ten hours, while the average time came down to 8.01 hours. On Saturday, 29 June, 305 children participated in the Olympus Kids & Olympus Juniors races. 75 of them were children of participant athletes. The children races were the kind contribution of the Novo Nordisk company. The 10th Olympus Marathon took place with the support of DEADO- the Municipal Development Association of Olympus Dion, and of the Novo Nordisk company. By the side of the organization were the Buff company, alternative energy Era Energy company,Power Bar and Solo Energy Bar, Gastrodromio restaurant, vineyard Zafiriadi, and Traditional Bardaki from Katerini. The support of Ostragon was invaluable with its rehabilitation services as well as those of the Gehwol company, Proto fruit company, legal representation Arag company, pizzeria Sundays. We thank Complete Travel (Giannis Tsangaris & George Grinias) for their efforts in complementing the transfer of the athletes with many additional trips. We thank the mineral water Dion for the water it provided to the organization, as well as Olympus Tea for the drinks it offered to the athletes at arrival. The 2013 Oympus Marathon was also sponsored by the Region of Central Macedonia, the Regional Unity of Pieria, and the Cooperative Bank of Pieria. We warmly thank the meat company Santikidi and the chicken Stravaridi who offered the meat for the post-race meal, as well as Computer Galaxy for its help. Over 300 volunteers from the local and regional communities helped organize the race with their invaluable services. Next to the organization were also the Corps of Volunteer Samaritans, Paramedics, and Lifeguards of the Greek Red Cross with 40 members from the Katerini section and 18 from Thessaloniki. SYRAP (Association of Radio Amateurs of Pieria) successfully organized and managed the communications network. Superior was also the participation of the Greek Mountaineer Association, the Association of Greek Mountaineers, the Association of Volunteer Firemen of the municipality of Dion, as well as the team from the first refuge who undertook to clean the paths of the race, and the preparation work of the employees of the municipality of Olympus Dion. The Organizing Committee and the Board of Olympus Marathon would like to warmly thank all the participants who honored the race, all those who supported it, and contributed to its orderly organization, as well as invite all its friends to the 11th race on 29 June 2014. Litohoro, 7 July 2013.
