A Marathon in the home of The Marathon.......Paddling 100km in one day!

Have I done enough training in 35 days for a Marathon paddle?

It's day 35, 30 May and I can almost smell the Athens pollution. As the crow flies from where I am now it is probably some 60km to the Acropolis (or an hour to drive and and hour to find somewhere to park as someone told me today).

I really don't need another challenge but there are too many connections........

Over the past week I've been concocting a plan, there being a fair bit of time to think when paddling for 8 hours or so each day. In 490BC the vastly outnumbered Greek army defeated the mighty Persian army in the Battle of Marathon, thus saving Athens from capture. Legend has it that a runner was despatched the 42km to Athens to announce the victory. And thus the Marathon was born.

Surely, while I am in Greece, I should respect the tradition and undertake a marathon paddle to raise funds for Save the Children. But what is a marathon paddle? The classic Marathon distance of 42km is about my average day so that's out. 100 is always such a lovely round number AND mediterr année is commemorating the Anzac Centenary so 100 works well. It's also twice my age!

So one night I looked at the map.......

After I go through the Corinth Canal I paddle out into the Gulf of Corinth. A quick measure with my thumb in the tent that night showed it was around 100km. A more detailed measure by those with more technological grasp than I confirmed that from Kiato, near Corinth to the bridge across the far western end of the Gulf near Patras makes a nice fat 100km!

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; with your help, next Friday 6 June (the 42nd day since I left Gallipoli....another connection), assuming no major hiccoughs with my planned schedule, I will attempt to paddle 100km in one day. Let there be no doubt this is a major challenge for me. The one and only time I paddled that distance was the Hawkesbury Classic Canoe Race in 2001. I was young and foolish then....

You will be able to follow my progress on Follow My Spot here. Ordinarily I only turn this on once a day to log my camp position but for this Marathon I will post the position hourly.

How you can Help....Please!
I'm not doing this cos I need the challenge. I'm doing it to raise money for Save the Children. With this in mind I'm asking you to join my challenge and pledge to donate an amount if I complete the mediterr année Marathon. If I don't succeed you don't pay. I need to know there is at least $2000 (1300 Euros) pledged to ensure I start (but I hope to raise a lot more than that). You can make your pledge either by sending an email to info@mediterrannee.com.au or stating your pledge on the Facebook item about this.

If I'm successful then you can go to the mediterr année Save the Children donation page here . To all my Greek and European friends you can use any valid Visa/Mastercard here. There will be a small conversion fee from Australian dollars on your bill. If for any reason you are not happy with doing that then we can find an alternative so don't be afraid to pledge your Euros/Pounds etc!

Remember 100% of your donation goes straight to Save the Children for the superb work they are doing with children affected by war and conflict in Syria and elsewhere.

The Australian Embassy have offered to help spread the word to their contacts in Greece including the Australian community. I'd love to engage as many locals in Greece as possible so to all those I've met who are now following mediterr année on Facebook etc do share this around and encourage your friends/family etc to get involved.

And some Logistics help too......
Also to all my Greek friends or others in Greece reading this. I'd love to have one or two people in support for the Marathon attempt. Taking photos, posting on Facebook and carrying all my luggage so I don't need to carry an extra 30kg of weight in the boat. So if you're free on 5-6 June, have a car and are able to help let me know. You get to share hopefully a great day, a celebration meal/drinks at the end and helping a great cause! Masseurs welcome - I'll need one at the end!
Drop me an email huw@mediterrannee.com.au or call me on my Greek mobile 6945917635

So Pledge Away People either by sending an email to info@mediterrannee.com.au or stating your pledge on the Facebook item about this.

The Greeks won the war in 490BC. I hope Save the Children win this one. 

After announcing 'We Won!' to the Athenians, the runner promptly collapsed and never recovered. I'm planning on perhaps the collapse part after but a quick recovery!

And there's More.......connections
I realised after I had the idea of the Marathon paddle, that I was going to pass close to the town of Marathon. So today I've decided to pay homage to that site and then walk the classic 42km Marathon course to the centre of Athens. (No I won't be running it - I gave up running 20+ years ago and, not having walked much further than up and down a beach this past month it's going to hurt enough as it is!)

So later today,F riday, I will leave Miss Grape at Shinlas, the location of the Canoe/Kayak/Rowing events in 2004 Olympics , walk the 10km or so to Marathon and then Saturday walk the 42km to Athens. Once in Athens I will be driven back to Shinlas by the organizers of the SurfersforLife Wellness Festival (bike, kayak, run) for Sunday to talk to the participants, hand out  the medals etc etc.

Everything falls into place. Not only do I get to exercise my legs but I get to miss some very strong headwinds (Force 6-7) over the next few days!

Thanks for getting involved. Thanks in advance for getting me to the start line of the inaugural mediterrannée Marathon!!

Hopefully Miss Grape, the Pace 17 Tour kayak will speed away with me in it on 6 June!