Ultra running in Greece beyond the Spartathlon

The bib2bib map of ultras beyond the Spartathlon

Beyond the Spartathlon — Greece's best-known ultramarathon, with its own in-depth bib2bib guide — the catalog lists 16 further confirmed, indexable ultra road and trail races, scheduled from 3 October 2026 to 22 May 2027, across seven regions, from Thrace to Crete and the Ionian Islands.

One other well-known title, Terra Paranestia (300 km), is postponed to 2027 with no new date yet according to the event's own site, so it is not included below. Oiti Ultra Trail (101.7 km, +5,265 m on Mount Oiti) and three further catalog ultras (Mamali Black Yard Ultra, Evrytania Everlap, Thessaloniki Stage Run) have already taken place this year, between 29 August and 25 September 2026 — they are mentioned here only as context, not as upcoming events.

• 100 km and beyond: 6 races
• Backyard ultras: 4 races
• Multi-day or timed: 3 races
• Mountain or road ultras under 100 km: 3 races

What counts as an "ultra"

Per Wikipedia's definition, an ultramarathon is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of 42.195 km — with the shortest common format being 50 km. Beyond fixed-distance races (50 km, 50 miles, 100 km, 100 miles), there are also fixed-time races (6, 12, 24 hours) and multi-day events (3, 6, 10 days), where ranking is by distance covered rather than a fixed course length.

The backyard ultra is a newer, distinct format with no predetermined distance or time limit — covered in the next section. bib2bib's catalog follows these definitions to separate ultras from ordinary road or trail races.

October 2026: the busiest month

Seven of the 16 races in this guide fall within October 2026, across four different regions.

• Makrakomi Backyard Ultra — 3 October 2026, Makrakomi, Fthiotida (Central Greece) — covered in detail in the next section
• ROUT Classic 100 Miles — 16–18 October 2026, Chaidou, Xanthi (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace) — 182 km (100 miles), +9,000 m in the Rhodope mountains, 46-hour limit; officially recognised as a Spartathlon qualifier (see below)
• Loutraki Ultramarathon Festival (21st) — 22–24 October 2026, Loutraki (Peloponnese) — a timed track event, 12/24/48 hours, IAU Bronze Label 2026
• Virgin Forest Trail — 22–25 October 2026, Paranesti, Drama (Eastern Macedonia and Thrace) — up to 162.651 km (+6,964 m); its longest distance is also officially recognised as a Spartathlon qualifier (see below)
• Run of the Immortals (12th) and King Leonidas Run — 24–25 October 2026, Tripoli–Sparta(–Mystras–Kalamata) (Peloponnese) — 142 km and 80 km respectively; covered in a dedicated section below
• South Olympus Forest Trail — 31 October 2026, Palaios Panteleimonas, Pieria (Central Macedonia) — 54 km, +2,800 m, on the southern foothills of Mount Olympus, 11.5-hour limit

Backyard ultra: "last one standing," one loop at a time

In a backyard ultra, every athlete runs a 6.706 km (4.167-mile) loop every hour, always starting on the hour; the race continues until only one runner remains able to complete one more full loop alone — that runner is the sole official finisher, while everyone else is recorded as DNF, per the format's own definition. The loop distance is not arbitrary: completing it every hour for 24 hours works out to exactly 160 km (100 miles) in a single day.

bib2bib's catalog has four upcoming backyard ultras, in four different regions:

• Makrakomi Backyard Ultra — 3 October 2026, central square of Makrakomi, Fthiotida — 6,706 m loop, +125 m per loop, up to 120 entrants
• 1st Mani Backyard Ultra — 12–13 December 2026, Stoupa, Messinia — a 100% paved 6,706 m loop, +60 m per loop
• Cretan Backyard Ultra 2027 — 16 January 2027, Voritsi, Heraklion — a 6.7 km loop, with separate day and night loops this year, per organiser Diadromes Idaias
• 4th Kefalonia Backyard Ultra 2027 — 10 April 2027, Argostoli, Kefalonia — a 6,706 m loop, the 4th consecutive year the Kefalonia Trail Events club has run it

November–December 2026: the Phidippides Run and the Minoan Athlos

The 10th Authentic Phidippides Run takes place on 19 November 2026, from Athens to Sparta and back to Athens; the catalog lists two distance options, 485.3 km and 524.9 km. The organiser describes the course generally as 490 km, with a 98-hour limit, inspired — as it states — by the ancient messenger Pheidippides's 490 BC journey to Sparta, as recorded by Herodotus.

The 24th Minoan Athlos runs on 6 December 2026, from Phaistos to Knossos (Heraklion, Crete): a 70 km road run with a 9-hour cutoff, alongside a new 3x23 km relay, according to organiser Cretan Marathon Runners Club "Ikaros." We already cover it in our Crete guide — /en/races/region/crete (el: /races/region/crete).

Spring 2027: stage races, timed ultras and island courses

The final four ultras in the catalog all fall between March and May 2027, two of them on Corfu.

• 5th Circuit Greece Serres Ultramarathon — 12 March 2027 (the official page states 12–14 March), Serres motor racing circuit (Central Macedonia) — a timed 6/12/24-hour event plus a 3x2-hour relay; 56 national records across four previous editions, per the organiser
• Evia Ultra Trail 2027 — 25 April 2027, Steni, Evia (Central Greece) — 108.5 km, +5,480 m / -5,480 m, 05:00 start, 26-hour limit
• Corfu Mountain Trail 2027 — 8 May 2027 (the official site states 8–9 May), Corfu (Ionian Islands) — a 103 km ultra distance, +4,200 m, crossing the summit of Mount Pantokrator, the island's highest point
• Corfu Odyssey 5-Stage Trail Run 2027 — 18–22 May 2027, Corfu (Ionian Islands) — the catalog's only multi-day stage race: 5 independent stages (18, 12, 18, 8 and 18 km, ~74 km total), each with its own time limit; ranking is not cumulative-time — runners who finish every stage inside its limit earn a finisher's medal, per the official regulations

Which catalog races officially count toward the Spartathlon

Of the 16 races in this guide, the official Spartathlon 2026 Terms of Participation (Chapter 2, "Races in Greece") explicitly name three as a recognised qualifying performance, each with its own required finish time:

• ROUT Classic 100 Miles (182 km, Rhodope mountains) — listed as "'ROUT' RODOPI ADVENDURUN 100 miles": 38:00 hours for men, 39:00 for women
• Virgin Forest Trail, longest distance (162.651 km, nominally ~100 miles) — listed as "VFUT PARANESTI 100-mile race": 32:00 hours for men, 33:00 for women
• Run of the Immortals (142 km) — listed as "ROAD OF IMMORTALS 142 km": 17:00 hours for men (16:30 from 2027), 18:00 for women

Registration, medical certificates, and the official sources have the last word

Most races in this guide require proven prior experience: ROUT Classic asks for a finished mountain race of at least 80 km within 2024–2026, Run of the Immortals asks for a finished 50km+ ultra (or specifically the Spartathlon or Olympios Athlos) in the same window, and King Leonidas Run asks for a finished marathon or longer in 2023–2025. Every backyard ultra carries its own hourly loop rule from hour one.

bib2bib does not handle registration, medical certificates or transport to any race's start line. Each event's own official page has the final word on deadlines, entry fees and the exact participation terms.