Loutraki Ultramarathon Festival 2026: race guide

What it is and where it takes place

The Loutraki International Ultramarathon Festival is a multi-day event with three separate endurance races — 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours — run in parallel at a stadium in Loutraki, Corinthia, over the same weekend. This year's edition is scheduled for 22-24 October 2026, according to the official site dayrunners.gr, which calls it "THE 21st INTERNATIONAL ULTRAMARATHON FESTIVAL".

The race is organised by the body named on the official entry forms as the "ASSOCIATION OF GREEK DAYRUNNERS". The same forms alternately refer to this year's event as the "Athens International Ultramarathon Festival" and ask entrants to bring the form "to Athens and hand in to the organizers" — even though the race is held in Loutraki; this is most likely a holdover from the event's Athens-area origins, as published by the organiser itself, with no further explanation on its public forms.

Formats: 12h, 24h, 48h

All three races are timed track events: the winner is whoever covers the greatest distance within the time limit, not whoever finishes a fixed distance first. The official site lists them as "48hr, 24hr and 12hr WORLD CUP races". All three carry an IAU Bronze Label 2026 this year, each with its own certificate number: 12H 2026 9105, 24H 2026 9106, 48H 2026 9107.

The official site does not publish an exact lap length or surface type — it only refers to "the stadium" as the venue, with WC and shower facilities. The bib2bib catalog classifies this race as a "Track ultramarathon - 400 m track", but that specific detail was not confirmed word-for-word on the pages checked on 29 September 2026 (the homepage, info.html, results.html, participants.html, photos.html, and all three entry forms) — we report this as a gap, not a confirmed fact.

Start schedule

• 48-hour race: starts Thursday 22 October, 14:00
• 24-hour race: starts Friday 23 October, 16:00
• 12-hour race: starts Friday 23 October, 23:00
• A closing ceremony follows each race, with T-shirts, diplomas and medals for all finishers, and cups for the top 3 men and top 3 women in each race, according to the official site

Who can enter

The official site sets one explicit condition for this year's field: "Runners with proven prior participation in ultra-marathon races are eligible to participate" — meaning entry is limited to runners with demonstrated prior ultramarathon experience. The entry form itself asks for, among other details, "PERSONAL BESTS" in the relevant distance or another one.

A recent medical certificate is also required, issued no earlier than July 2026, to be handed in when collecting a race number in Loutraki.

Registration and entry fees

Online applications are submitted by emailing a completed form (a separate one for each distance — 12, 24 or 48 hours) to chortislodge@gmail.com and costas.baxevanis@gmail.com, with an application deadline of 3 October, per the announcement on the homepage. On-site registration is also available at the stadium, at the latest 3 hours before each race's start; on-spot registration opens on 22 October at 14:00.

The entry fee is paid on-site and varies by distance: €130 for the 48-hour race, €70 for the 24-hour race and €40 for the 12-hour race. Registered runners receive an electronic timing chip, a race number and a T-shirt.

History: 21 years in the organiser's own archive

The official site's results archive covers editions from 2005 through 2025 (with no results available for 2008), and its photo archive page confirms that 2025 was the "20th International Ultramarathon Festival" — making this year's, in 2026, the 21st. The event's historical range of formats was far broader than this year's: across various years the archive lists 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72-hour races, 6-day and 7-day races, 1,000 km, 1,000 miles, 2,000 km and even 5,000 km races, plus relay and walker categories. This year's programme is limited to the 12h, 24h and 48h races.

The official site does not publish a separate narrative history of the event (founding, milestones, records) beyond the year-by-year results and photo archives — everything reported here comes solely from those two archives.

Practical notes for visitors: transport, accommodation, weather

For getting there from the airport, the official site states there is "good train connection" to the venue, pointing to a Tripadvisor discussion thread for details rather than publishing its own official schedule information. For accommodation, it links to a Booking.com search for Loutraki hotels.

Accommodation is also possible inside the stadium, but runners must bring their own gear (mattress, sleeping bag, tent); resting rooms will be available but cannot be guaranteed for everyone. The official site describes the weather in Loutraki for the event period as mild, 20-30°C.

Dedication and sponsors

The 2026 edition is dedicated, per the homepage, "to Cancer Research". The same page lists five sponsors by logo: Aigeas, Fage, Bodossaki, Sklavenitis and the Angelicoussis Foundation.