A Destination On The Running Road
We drove to Kassiopi last night… We first visited the town in May last year. We caught the 'green bus' then. We had asked Spiros who is a 'boat owner' on the beach, whether he could take us there by sea in his boat; he advised us that the bus would be best…!
We had been making the journey then to run the Kassios Dias race; little did we know what lay ahead! And I have Amy to thank for this; Last year I requested she find me a race in Corfu, and so she did just that!!
As we drove along I was taken back to last May, we had only been in Corfu a week, everything was new and the whole experience of running Kassias Dias changed me in many ways and on many levels, as endurance challenges often do, by taking us further than we ever knew we could go. The terrain was challenging, the course has to be run to be believed and a half marathon that takes almost three hours for me to run says it all!
The idea for the race was thought up by Thanasis Sarakinos, Vassilis Koutsouris, Yiannis Salvanos, Nikos Tsirimiagos and Kostas Arathimos.
Kostas had talked us through the course the night before; 8k extremely difficult, 5k easy and the rest moderate.... he told us, pointing to the route on his colour chart... reaching 8k in the race I looked forward to the moderate and easy...to no avail!
The race took us through the parts of the mountains where the villagers used to live and work to hide from the pirates. Running through the history of the land connected me at a primal level to the oneness of us all as humans journeying together; the paths and trails in these mountainous lands that people had travelled along in the past, and from birth to death too.
In the race we climbed up up up, running along tracks which the race organisers had worked on all winter, to clear for the race, and create the route...
We ran through the hamlets of the Sinies area - they exist because for five centuries the people were under attack from pirates; and so the hamlets were created where they were hidden from view. This meant that they could safely live in their cultivated land. So the footpaths that we ran along in the race were originally made so that the villagers could move easily from one area to another.
I am not sure I would have described my movement in the race as easy! The first 8k which took us to Tritsi was some of the hardest running I have ever done; and I have run mountain races in Switzerland that have taken me up to 3000 metres in altitude and over very rocky terrain; but in truth this race needs to be run to be understood!
Corfu is so beautiful, the energy of the place I was running in bathed me in its magic and power; and asked that I surrender to her and be with her and let her absorb me in her all encompassing energy.
The uphills were steep, at one point there was a sign warning us of a 36% climb ahead! Ropes were strung between the trees so that we might haul ourselves up at the most difficult parts and the same with the incredibly steep downs...
This was where I struggled with my lack of 'technical ability' - I slipped and slid and tottered my way down the mountainous land...!
Since then Thanasis has given me tips on running downhill in the way the locals do and I have already put this into practice when racing the half marathon to mount Pantokrator in September .
When we return to Corfu in April, our friends in Kassiopi have promised to take us for some preparation training runs on the route...
I also have 'plans' for my training between now and then to ensure I am as well prepared as possible - the race date is May 11th - the day before my birthday!
It seems a destination on my running road is presenting itself...
But the biggest gift of this race has been to introduce Anadi and I to our friends in Kassiopi. We have since run races together, drunk beer and eaten and laughed together - and the friendships have been cemented.
And so last night we drove the winding road that takes us to
Kassiopi; when we reached the town, it was as quiet as Barbati - all the restaurants of the summer had their shutters down - but Nikos's bar Angelos was open for business. Thanasis and Kostas and Dimitris all stopped by for a drink with us and we shared our stories and talked together about running, about life, about the recent elections in Greece; and about what has been happening in our lives since we all last met.
The guys have asked me to brief the English speaking runners in the race this coming May about the course...
Maybe the word 'brief' should be replaced with 'warn'!