A very different Greece – My Story of the 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race

After scratching at the 2024 Atlas Mountain Race and not being able to make the 2025 dates, I needed to get a Nelson Mountain Race under my belt.
This is my story and recap of the 7 days of riding the magnificent 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race featuring on-bike footage and photos from the 880km race starting in Meteora and finishing on the shores of the Gulf of Patras in Nafpaktos.

Additional Photo Credit:
Lloyd Wright https://www.instagram.com/lloydjwright
Stephen Shelesky https://www.instagram.com/stephenshelesky
Matt Franklin (Cap 98) https://www.instagram.com/Franklinrides

Additional Audio : Mel Webb – The Mountain Races Podcast HMR Day 5 Spiralling Upwards https://shows.acast.com/the-mountain-races/episodes/hmr-day-5-spiralling-upward

Kit Review video. https://youtu.be/YEa5KVU7ikU?si=QZAV2_E7g_Dul2pc

Code: 0BWVKMBGBWRL93FL

hi I’m Mark i’ve been riding bikes for the past 
12 years since I decided I needed to build some sort of exercise in into my sedatory office-based 
lifestyle. I started by riding five miles to the station uh to the train station just to get some 
exercise and since then I’ve ridden road gravel and mountain bikes in many countries around 
the world in this video I will share my story   of the 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race the Hellenic 
Mountain Race is the third in the Nelson Trees Mountain series of races following on from the 
infamous Silk Road Mountain Race and the Atlas Mountain Race which was started in 2020 it was 
that 2020 Atlas Mountain race that brought me into the world of ultra cycling and these bike 
packing races i made a video of my scratched attempt at the 2024 Atlas Mountain Race which 
you can view on my YouTube feed it explains the journey I had to get to that race over three years 
and in some ways this Hellenic Mountain race is a continuation of that journey having scratched in 
2024 at Atlas I wanted to return and finish the race my other commitments though in 2025 meant 
that I couldn’t make the the dates of the Atlas race so I opted for Hellenic determined to get a 
Mountain Race Series finish under my belt now the Hellenic Mountain Races billed as the the Greece 
you didn’t know or the one that you wouldn’t necessarily recognize and this is very true in 
my case the start line is a 5-hour coach journey from Athens in the picturesque town of Kalabaka 
famous for the Meteora rocks and monasteries the route leaves Meteora and makes its way west 
to Metsovo embarking then on a 300 km clockwise loop in the Pindus Mountains returning then to 
Metsovo before heading almost in a direct line south crossing 2,000 meter passes and descending 
into steep valleys eventually reaching the coastal town of Nafpaktos on the Gulf of Patras a distance 
of 877 kilometers with 28,000 meters of elevation gain The landscapes are varied and stunning 
rock formations alpine wooded trails stone bridges long difficult hiker bike sections 
and steep technical single tract the route is a masterpiece more varied than Atlas and 
beautiful in a myriad of ways now this route is either climbing or descending there is very 
very little flat, I removed my bolt-on arrow bars for this ride as I figured I would not be 
needing them and this was right uh I didn’t need them at all for this ride I had my 2023 Cannondale 
Scalpel Lefty a full sus XC bike with Maxis Recon Race 2.4 inch tyres which I hoped would be robust 
enough for the terrain. I did not regret one bit my choice for taking a full sus bike, there were 
others there with gravel bikes but the majority were riding hard tail mountain bikes Not many with 
gravel bikes made it through to the race finish. So here is my story of the 2025 Hellenic Mountain 
Race. OK so my bag is now here yay so now we can catch the coach up to the start town I can relax, 
I need to change because I smell terrible [Music] The snail on the map on map progress and if 
you notice there’s a little snail it will be going along the course at the cut off time 
so generally speaking if you’re in front of the snail you’re still on time for the cut off 
if you’re behind then you should get a move on there’s another one and that’s it off we go [Music] stop down here, grab a snack fair enough yeah well I’m pretty sure you will 
cuz I I’ll be stopping fairly soon there’s a an immense solitude even 
though there’s a few people around me there’s a comfort in being on your 
own at the moment with your own thoughts i’m fine now but later on I won’t 
want to be just riding on my own as with every Nelson race the 
start is always interesting and this start has given a good insight to 
what the rest of the ride is going to be about climbing and descending and then 
climbing straight back up again we’re about 70 or 80 km in now i’ve not checked my target is to get to Metsovo to get some food some proper food and then regroup 
and head out for another few hours just try and capture a little 
bit of the landscape here it’s absolutely beautiful it’s been hot it’s clouded over a bit now which 
is actually quite quite good not been the easiest of starts for me um 
I’ve had a bit of a upset tummy the less said about that the better but 
hopefully that’s behind me now and uh we’re cracking on have to edit out that burp hey slippy slippy whoa whoa whoa reach the limit of the 
Maxxis Recon race tires whoa and the limit of my skill there we go oh muddy slippy this is what we have to contend with this is apparently the track the only way I can tell it’s the track is 
because there’s probably about a hundred other riders that have come before 
before me today and walked it through this is what is called hike-a-bike because I’m not good enough to ride up it so Mike’s come off has got a hole in his 
knee he’s getting down to Metsovo so that he can get it stitched hopefully 
but he’s still riding. To our left we believe is Metsovo that we’re dropping into this absolutely amazing descent okay take it easy yep fair enough [Mike] Don’t think it can take another hit uh no how’s it doing at the moment all right
[Mike] Largely stopped bleeding weirdly I can’t understand how a big gaping hole [Mike] I think it’s the adrenaline! okay made it to the first major town and I’m 
exhausted but we are going to go look this is the food I’m going to get i can’t wait look at 
everyone yeah I’m just over 100k in now it’s coming up to 8:00 I think something like that 
and uh rumblings of thunder just seen lightning over on the left there about five 5k away 
something like that now the in the briefing Nelson said if you get thundering and lightning get down 
off high high ground and don’t be up on a plateau on a ridge line hm yeah not sure what I’m going to 
do there but I think I might put my rain jacket on okay rain jacket deployed just 
missed the thunder see if there’s any lightning coming up can’t see 
any all right we’ll stop it there i need to get going around 11 o’clock 
at night i’m about 140 kilometers in basically after leaving Metsovo it started 
raining the thunder and lightning uh thankfully that just passed over um so it’s actually 
warmer to keep going so that’s what I’m doing right now we’ll see how that is 
hopefully I can find somewhere to stay or some shelter to be in and uh yeah we’re currently 
in the middle of a 10 km climb which is hurting but it’s all right. It’s uh 5:30 in the morning uh all 
packed up don’t you can’t really see where we stayed but we’re in the churchyard it’s been a fantastic place to be actually 
and uh now start the new day aiming for another 140 K so 130k i’m going to try and 
get the CP1 today that’s the goal we’ll see good morning so it’s a couple of hours in and 
I’m really quite suffering at the moment I’m hungry I’ve run out of water pretty much 
um I’m still probably another hour away from the next town because I don’t know if 
you can tell here it’s so slow going all the rain yesterday and overnight has just 
made this so slippery and so hard going so so this is a tough moment right now hopefully well I know it’s going to come to an end just hopeful that I don’t uh don’t crash or break the bike in some way and 
all this slippiness slippy mud we’re getting there unfortunately even the downhills 
are slow because it’s so slippy here you go you can see what it’s like absolutely no traction at all [Music] had some food it’s very difficult to eat it though still struggling with stomach 
problems but we’re getting through or I’m getting through hoping 
to make CP1 today but it’s going to be late it’s going to be around 
midnight before I get there I think but anyway in this lovely little village so all 
right we keep on climbing just coming up for 200k so that’s the not quite a quarter of it done 
a fifth of it done there we go and this incredible vista they 
call this the stone forest it’s very beautiful the weather is 
creeping in a little bit we’ll see how we get on electrolytes needed nice still coming back [Music] bit of a strong wind rather hope that’s not going to 
be a headwind later when we’re   on the valley floor [Music] chance 
it will be though northwest [Music] [Music] we still got more climbing to do [Music] i think I’ll just sit here and wait for a minute 
have you seen what we got to try and get down frankly if I was a better rider! just had lunch or dinner at the in 
Arista managed to finish off some Mousakka I’ve got about 60k to checkpoint one it’s 6:00 
in the evening based on how things have been going and the terrain that may take me another 
6 hours so we’ll see sun has come out though now i don’t know if you can see there 
to the right beautiful vista that is all right not much sunshine left got probably 3/4 
of an hour of daylight left but uh two more climbs well one and a half more climbs and then the 
hiker bike and then down into CP1 still 40k to go still going to take me another 3 and 
half – 4 hours probably but it’ll be worth it so it’s midnight i’m at 2,000 m 
i’m pushing my bike up a track all in aid to get to CP1 which is at the bottom or just 
over the top of this climb this is the absurdity of what we’re doing well made it to checkpoint one last night this 
ended up being 4:00 in the morning because it took a long time to get over the the top of 
the climb because we had to do a 3 km 3 and a half km hike a bike but here this is CP1 isn’t 
it gorgeous this morning it’s a little chilly but it’s beautiful and uh I’m just about to 
head off now so I’m pretty much on schedule gorgeous even had a chance to clean my bike this morning   get rid of all the mud which 
was fantastic oil the chain lubed the chain up so it’s all 
clean oh we’re going to have a   good day today yesterday was really 
hard i left at 5:30 in the morning and got to CP1 at 3:00 a.m just after 
3:00 a.m so that was a hard long day probably one of the hardest mentally and 
physically physical days I’ve ever had on a bike it was not easy we were being rewarded with views like this today down [Music] [Music] ah more hike a bike where did you sleep last night 
cp1 nice yeah we went over the   top overnight yeah same it was horrible 
quite chilly with the wind yes very cold [Music] bike right I’m just about to drop down into Metsovo so that’ll be somewhere where I’ll stop for 
dinner and then decide what’s next and maybe that’ll be the end of my day actually today 
we’ll see is just after Metsovo then it’s uh 21 km climb uh up to 2,000 m and 
it’s already 7:00 in the evening I think 7 in the evening doing a 20 
km climb up into the high mountains I’m not sure that’s best use 
of my time today we’ll see it’s been a beautiful day today 
day three has been a reward day   for the hard work of day two that’s for sure okay it’s 5:30 in the morning i’m about 45 minutes 
late i stopped in Metsovo having completed the the loop the north loop so it was about 7:30 when 
I got got there last night um had some food debated whether to carry on or not and in the 
end decided it would be better to get get a get a room get an early night leave early morning 
but unfortunately those plans were somewhat changed or kaboshed a little bit when 
uh the place I was staying had live music until midnight music was good not 
really what I wanted to hear so anyway we’re on the road again and the plan 
CP2 beautiful sunrise this morning [Music] ooh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] that’s where we’re heading down that way [Music] oh that’s the sort of thing that wrecks tyres as is that right this time at CP2 on a Nelson Mountain 
Race is much better experience for me right well I’ve made it CP2 uh been here 
actually a couple of hours already uh actually had a work call to go straight on 
to so I got done that that was good um all my kit is over there I took a bit of a tumble 
this morning and so had to fix a few things up look you can see what I’ve had to do cable tie 
gin holder to the charger and now I’ve had to restraighten my handlebars but uh now this is just 
gorgeous up here it’s very difficult to leave but uh I’m going to be heading off um probably 
in an hour going to have a shower going to have something more to eat it’s bit remote now 
between here and the next checkpoint so here we go [Mel Webb – Mountain Races Podcast] beyond the 
checkpoint lies a stunning mountain pass and the   beginning of a much more remote stretch of the 
route riders head straight into the wilderness from the comforts of the CP where the road gets 
steeper rougher and more unpredictable resupply are few and far between and sudden shifts in 
weather in the mountains can change everything it can be a daunting section but for many the 
checkpoint gives just enough of a lift to keep going a moment of encouragement a good meal and 
maybe a song cap 89 Mark Gilmour was feeling it all he came into the CP dancing and left CP2 with 
a full belly and a big smile ready for the road ahead you were the fellow who came into the CP 
dancing weren’t you? [Mark]I was yeah i mean that had a bit of a vibe didn’t it in CP2 [Mel] tell 
me a little bit more about the vibe [Mark] oh it’s just great soundtrack great soundtrack and the 
volunteers there were just doing a super job and it was just great loads of people around chilling 
out sun was shining fabulous [Mel] can you sing me one of the songs pretty please [Mark] oh dear 
me oh my kids will hate that uh whoa i tell you what one for my wife {sings} just the two of us 
building oh that’ll do well [Mel] perfect enjoy your evening thank you right i think that might 
be the last climb of the day for me cuz it’s uh 8 8:30 now i’m about to descend you can 
see all this cloud coming in ooh that’s eerie so I just got to the top of the path temperature’s dropping a little bit cuz it’s the 
mountains and it’s 2,000 meters and now we’re going to head head down 
see what comes next and then work out whether it’ll be time to stay somewhere find 
somewhere to overnight that’s the plan right I don’t know if you can see that but 
that is washed away road apparently this was this was noted on the on the 
track so so glad that I’m doing this uh in the dark oh well when making a choice 
about coming to the Hellenic Mountain Race and you’re considering your kit you know bike 
clothing which bike do you take gravel is it hard tail is it full sus whatever i won’t go 
into that discussion but don’t forget shoes choose carefully your shoes for such a race 
because they need to be comfortable for walking in a lot of walking both uphill and downhill 
and ideally probably should also be waterproof there’s my bed for the night 
there’s an old beaten up van but I have to say I slept so well so went 
very well it’s actually quite mild it’s uh 5am and off we go again at uh where am I in uh 500 and something K 
uh let’s have a quick look 530k in 33k in and uh just stopped at the last 
rest stop or taverna don’t know if you can see it on the camera down there well the good news is that uh the thunder 
seems to have passed it’s rained a little bit and the other good news is I’m now 
at the top pretty much this climb has been the one where my legs have said no 
they’ve been fed they’ve been watered and they’ve just not done as they’re told 
but it’s still been a beautiful climb just gorgeous just gorgeous 
i do like a forest climb okay just to prove that it’s 
uh not all been sunshine this whole time and warm the rain has caught up with me okay it’s 2 in the morning on Thursday rain has 
stopped it’s uh calmed down quite nicely i stayed at this kind of sanctuary refuge here in 
this town organized by the lady at the um at the restaurant in the previous town uh but so Okay the goal today is CP3 and beyond reached the peak supposed to be the viewpoint I got my timing right just shame about the weather never mind I tell you what I’d be prefer 
to be riding it now on uh uh on uh the road bike with 28 or 30 mm tires 
instead instead of on a full sus loaded with uh 2.4 in tires and 29ners but this is 
gorgeous this climb goes up to 2,000 m it’s a 1200 m climb i think that’s where we’re 
heading and CP3 is just over the top of there okay it’s 3:00 in the morning at CP3 don’t 
know if you can see our bikes everywhere okay last day starts okay it’s uh 3:00 in 
the morning on Friday i’m leaving Karpenissi to uh see how far I can get towards the finish about 196k to go I think something like that so just over 2,000 meters this was planned 
to be a viewpoint but unfortunately the cloud is low today well lowish so no views so now 
heading down the mountain there’s the views yeah now that is a view that is a view I’m heading to that 
town over there hopefully there’s a shop the rumour is there isn’t. so come 
on cheer us on {speaking to the goats} all right that’s where I’m heading 
down and then up there again this is the climb where we 
leave it all behind i think I’m at kilometer 795 just 80 to go I am tired [Music] so it’ll say So this is Maria yes Vasilios 
or Bill bill yes and then we got all of the Is this all of the town is it all family 
that’s right so 10 people in the whole town [Maria]10 people but in the middle of 
the winter we have we are seven people oh my this is a wonderful place this is this is 
just gorgeous and and you are so so welcoming [Music]
[Maria]  he said that you was you were very happy that 
[Mark] Oh yes i was very happy [Maria] that you were here cuz I was cold yes hungry and 
now how are you feeling now i am feeling much better actually I’m no longer hungry and I’m 
no longer cold so this is good so we might be able to finish okay what do you reckon Trey 
we might be able to finish tonight [Trey] 10 out of 10 got the rice I’ve got the carbs and 
the and the protein look at that required to to pull this off yeah uh I’m scared to go in 
at night but I feel good now yeah excellent so I have uh just woken up planning to go out   and look at this weather so new 
plan stay in here where it’s warm okay going to try again it is now 
4:00 or it’s now 4:30 or will be in a second um the rain has stopped 
the wind has eased a little bit and this place was just amazing 75.84 kilometers to go according to 
the Garmin that I’ve just started so 7 hours based on on current form and what’s that finish around midday even now the end is not insight because it’s fogged in now finally the finish is in sight [Music] [Music] thank you thank you congrats huh is this it thanks [Applause] thank you well done oh cold hands yeah that 
was quite a descent hey you made it you too hey how you doing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]