Team Sula Sgeir - Pindos 2001 Report - 2001 Results - Pindos 2000 Report - 2000 Results - 2000 Press Release

Pindos Crossing 2000

Press Release

The 3-day adventure race organized by KENAKAP SA (Development Center of Kalambaka-Pyli SA) in the southwestern Pindos mountain range in central Greece was concluded on Sunday 11-06-2000. With a total route of 250 km (92 km mountain running, 155 km MTB, 16 km river and lake monoraft and 200 m abseiling on the Meteora rocks) it’s the first major adventure race in Greece.

Two separate races were held on the same route : solo and team race (4-person teams in a staged relay format, where team members did different race legs in pairs).

With 8 entries in the solo race and 11 teams the contestants number (including support crews) reached a total of 74 persons.

The race was held as follows :

Thursday June 8 (prologue) : Registration and preliminary tests in Kastraki, race briefing in Kalambaka, camping in Kakoplevri.

Friday June 9 : Race start from Kakoplevri, 6 km mountain running to Kallithea, 39 km MTB to Aoos lake, 10 km climb to Flegga peak (alt. 2179 m) and down, 4 km monoraft in the lake, 22 km MTB to Chaliki under heavy rain and hail storm. The scheduled climb to Polykorfo (=Multipeak in Greek, alt. 2045-2100 m) one of the most demanding race legs over rocky mountains and cragged peaks, was cancelled because of increased accident risk due to the heavy rain, mud and landslides. Camping in Chaliki.

Saturday June 10 : 25 km MTB from Chaliki to Alexiou bridge over the Aspropotamos (=White river), 19 km mountain running to Messochora (the 12 km whitewater raft section scheduled on this leg was also cancelled because the narrow river was too wild due to the heavy rain that continued on through the night until 10 am that morning), 21 km MTB to Gropa, 11 km climb to Loupata peak (1630 m) and 26 km MTB to the Pertouli Ski Center where the camp was set under heavy rain again.

Sunday June 11 : 12 km climb from Pertouli to the Astrapi (=lightning) peak of Mt. Koziakas (1900 m), 16 km mountain running to Glykomilia, 26 km MTB to Kastraki, 100 m rock climbing to Doupiani (one of the Meteora rocks), 100 rapel from Doupiani and finally a 300 m run to the finish line in Kastraki.

The race ran smoothly from start to finish, without any problems, no accidents and no racers lost on the wild, stunningly beautiful but sometimes dangerous Pindos mountains. Thus, fortunately, the intervention of the experienced race safety personnel (Greek National Rescue Team, specialized race medical crew, race safety and support crew with mountain and river guides, rock climbers, etc.) was not required.

The fierce competition for the top 3 places continued to the last minute especially in the solo race, keeping the excitement high until the race finish.

The level of athletes was generally high with entries from the top athletes on the race disciplines in Greece. There were also some amateur teams entering to taste the excitement and experience of this highly demanding race. These people deserve congratulations because they didn’t hesitate to test their skills and endurance alongside the top professional racers and showed original athletic spirit.

All contestants exhibited a high level of team spirit in all cases, since they (even the ones aiming high) never hesitated to lose valuable time in order to help other athletes in distress.

Worth mentioning is the fact that no solo racer or team dropped off the race, but all of them kept on trying and finished the race, despite the difficult route, demanding effort and unfavourable conditions (heavy rain, hail, mud and landslides), exhibiting great reserves of stamina and tremendous will power, even the amateurs.

Special reference should be made to the transnational Scottish-Greek team : Gavin Earons and Graham Meeks from team Sula Sgeir – the winners of the Western Isles Challenge 1999 and 2000, the race which together with Pindos Crossing and The Endless Odyssey in Sweden comprise the European Wilderness Challenge, the first European adventure racing championship –– and two (not professional) Greek athletes. This team deserves special praise since, despite the difficulties they had to face (they first met 2 days before the race, with no prior knowledge of each other’s skills and habits, they communicated in English, 3 out of 4 were "veterans" aged over 40, they chose not to use a backup crew) and the fact that they were not competing for the prizes (their entry was a "pilot project", an experiment on transnational cooperation) they raced exceptionally well and finished 2nd in the team race.

The race staff amounted to 50 persons : safety and support personnel, Rescue Team, medical crew, checkpoint staff, race judges (?! excuse my English), organizing committee etc.

Interesting facts :

Out of 74 contestants 7 were female (athletes and support), and 7 were aged over 40 (the 2nd in the solo race was 46), forcing the organizers to establish a special "veterans" trophy. The 1st solo racer did the 2nd fastest time overall. The race had an altitude difference of 6.000 m and a peak of 2179 m.

During the race the following were consumed : 450 bars of chocolate, 12 kg of honey, 10 kg of jam, 24 kg of raisins, 12 kg of prunes, 12 kg of rice, 22 kg of pasta, 9 kg of musli and 12 kg of cornflakes, 114 kg of bread, 450 boiled eggs, 91 kg of bananas, 114 lt of soup, 78 kg of beef, 5 kg of butter, 35 kg of feta cheese, 32 kg of hard (kasseri) cheese, 25 kg of halva (Greek and oriental hard candy made of sesame pulp and glucose), 255 lt of fresh milk, 122 lt of orange juice, 277 lt of beer, 64 lt of ice tea, 330 lt of Red Bull, 250 lt of bottled water and 840 sandwiches.

The race enjoyed television coverage by a 10 person filming crew for 4 major Greek TV channels (ALPHA SKY, MEGA, ANTENNA and STAR).

Race photos are by Vangelis EFTHYMIOU.

Please mention his name in any event of their publication.

For the Pindos Crossing 2000

Race Organisation Committee

Nikos MANOUSSAKIS