The Gravel of Marathon 2026: race guide

What The Gravel of Marathon is

The Gravel of Marathon is, according to the event's own official site, the first Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series race ever held in Greece — following, as the organiser itself states, the success of the Megalopolis Gravel Classic in Arcadia and the Amarantos Gravel Experience in the Agrafa mountains of Thessaly (both are also in the bib2bib catalog, without UCI certification). It is organized by the MBike team, Greece's leading cycling media platform and organizer of the Athens Bike Festival since 2010; on the ENDU registration platform the organizer is listed as "Bicycle Friendly Greece P.C."

The Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series is, per the official site, the UCI's mass-participation gravel series where elite riders compete alongside amateurs, all aiming to qualify for the UCI Gravel World Championships. 2026 is the series' 5th year, with 48 events (15 new) across 33 countries and five continents, supported by partners Gravelking, Shimano and Santini. The 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships are scheduled for 10–11 October in Nannup, Western Australia.

Where and when

The race takes place on Sunday, 15 November 2026, with both routes starting at the Marathon Stadium in the municipality of Marathon, eastern Attica, about 40 km from Athens according to the official site. The finish is in the center of Marathon.

The main terrain is Lake Marathon, an artificial reservoir that much of the loop circles, together with the Grammatiko and Ano Souli areas.

Distances and elevation: what the official site actually says

The official site states two demanding routes: a long one, "96 kilometers with 1,320 meters of elevation gain," and a shorter one, "65 kilometers with 1,150 meters of elevation gain" — both roughly 75% off-road. However, the same site's own registration section ("the 95 or the 65 kilometer routes") and the official race regulations (Section 2: "complete the 95 km") consistently refer to the long route as 95 km. This guide states both figures exactly as the same source gives them, without picking a "correct" one — for the precise distance before you register, check the official regulations or ask the organizer directly.

The long route serves as the 2027 UCI Gravel World Championships qualifier for the Elite Men's/Women's categories and Men 19–59 / Women 19–49. The short route is the qualifier for Men 60+ and Women 50+, per the official regulations.

There is also a third source with different figures: the Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series' own event page (ucigravelworldseries.com) describes the long route as 121 km with 2,020 m of elevation gain and the short route as 86 km with 1,430 m, both roughly 90% off-road, on a 36 km loop rather than 31 km — a materially different course description than gravelofmarathon.gr's. This guide states all three versions from this same family of official sources exactly as each gives them, without picking a "correct" one — for the precise distance before you register, ask the organizer directly.

The route, step by step

Per the official site's own course description, both routes start at the Marathon Stadium. After crossing the town, riders face a 2 km climb on rocky terrain (average gradient 6%, maximum 9%), pass through Grammatiko, follow 5 km of asphalt and then a dirt track to a shallow stream, with a tough 500-meter climb right after.

Then comes the 31 km loop: the first feed station with mechanical support and an ambulance, a 16 km rural stretch (alternating dirt and asphalt) to the entrance of Lake Marathon (second feed station, mechanical support and first aid), 4 km alongside the lake on soft dirt, another shallow stream, a steep 200-meter climb on soft dirt (gradients up to 12%), and 6 km of dirt road closing the loop. Riders repeat this 31 km loop two more times on the long route and once more on the short route, before heading back through Grammatiko and Ano Souli to the finish in central Marathon.

The official regulations specify 2 official water/feed points per lap, while riders remain responsible for carrying enough fluids and nutrition between control points.

Registration

Registration is open (checked 29/9/2026) through the ENDU platform, for either the long or the short route. Participation is governed by UCI Gravel World Championships regulations and Hellenic Cycling Federation (HCF) rules. Neither the official event page nor the registration page publishes an entry fee — if you need the exact price, it appears at ENDU's payment step, or you can ask the organizer directly.

The minimum entry age is 19 (as of 31 December of the event year) for both routes. The official regulations set a tiered refund policy: 50% refund for cancellations up to 9 weeks before race day, 30% for cancellations between 9 and 4 weeks out, no refunds within the final 4 weeks. Rolling an entry over to a future year is allowed only with medical documentation and by contacting the Race Director at least 30 days in advance, and only once.

Bike, equipment and time cut-offs

Per the official regulations, gravel bikes are explicitly recommended for the terrain, standard mountain bikes are permitted on designated distances, and road bikes are strictly prohibited on the course. A functioning GPS navigation device is mandatory for every rider, even though the route is fully marked with physical arrows; a helmet is mandatory at all times.

To pass the final cut-off checkpoint on the long route, the regulations require riders to maintain a minimum average speed of 14 km/h. Organizers reserve the right to adjust cut-off times on-route if weather or track conditions require it.

History: why Marathon

Marathon is internationally known for the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, where — according to both the race's own official site and Wikipedia — the Athenian army, reinforced by Plataea, defeated the forces of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire. The event's official site frames the battle as a pivotal moment for the continuation of ancient Greek civilization; that framing is the organizer's own, not an uncontested historical consensus.

The same area gave its name to the modern Classic Marathon running distance of 42.195 km — per The Gravel of Marathon's own official site, the Athens Marathon draws more than 60,000 participants every year. The gravel race's own name plays deliberately on that link: "every rider is sure to feel the satisfaction of having fought their own personal Battle of Marathon... with bicycles as weapons," as the official site puts it.

What else to see nearby

The official site says the area offers a wide range of accommodation — hotels of all categories, rental rooms and Airbnbs — close to the start line. Even in November, it says a stay in Marathon can be combined with a swim at Schinias beach, a visit to the Archaeological Museum of Marathon, the battlefield and its Tumulus, the Marathon Run Museum, and the European Bread Museum.

The official site also notes that a trip can be combined with the Athens Marathon, which this year runs exactly one week earlier, on 8 November 2026 — a date also confirmed in the bib2bib catalog.

Gravel in Greece: where this race fits

The Gravel of Marathon is one of three gravel entries in the bib2bib catalog for 2026, alongside the Megalopolis Gravel Classic (Arcadia, 26 April 2026) and the Amarantos Gravel Experience (Karditsa, 30 August 2026) — but it is the only one of the three with official UCI certification. bib2bib's own cycling-in-Greece guide covers all three within the wider picture of the sport in the country.