News from Madara

The photo above was taken on October 26, 2024, around 6:00 PM in the village of Anopoli in southern Crete, during the Sfakia Sky Marathon / Sfakia Vertical Run event. For those who were at this competition, the place and the people shown may be familiar, and the photo itself seems quite ordinary. Without a longer comment, it tells us little. So, who are these young people, and what are they so happy about?

The standard “Finisher” banner often used during running events indicates that they likely participated in the competition a few hours earlier, and judging by the smiles on their faces, they did quite well. But simply saying they are the winners of the Sfakia Sky competition is like saying nothing!

The boy on the left is Marcos Peat. He has just won the Sfakia Sky Marathon with a time of 5 hours, 28 minutes, and 7 seconds. Marcos is 18 years old, but this isn’t his first time in our competition; he also participated in the two previous editions. In 2022, it took him 8 hours and 13 minutes to reach the finish line. The difference between these results is staggering. However, the most extraordinary thing is the evolution that Marcos has undergone. After his first mountain marathon, Marcos decided to start training seriously, running more frequently and faster. We could observe his progress up close because, although he has French-English family roots, he lived in Crete for several years. Malaxa, Meskla, Zourva, Pachnes from Anopoli, and the E-4 path along the southern coast of Crete were his training fields. Marcos also ran faster and faster in our local competitions: Samaria Run, @Sitia Geo Trail, and @Minoiko Monopati, even when he occasionally overdid it and twisted his ankle on a downhill. I remember him saying in youthful ecstasy, “I can’t imagine my life without running anymore.” And he began to take on the best more boldly. The result from a few days ago shows that he is already the fastest on the Island. And this is only the beginning of his journey…

The most interesting part, however, is that the story we are telling here, is a family story. The man in the middle of our photo is Leonidas—Marcos’ older brother. He finished our competition in third place, despite twisting his ankle 10 km before the finish line (family tradition? ).

And the girl, first on the right, is Lilou – Leonidas’ girlfriend. She crossed the finish line after 6 hours and 4 minutes, right behind her boyfriend. Lilou finished the competition in fourth place in the Open classification and as the first woman. She is not new to our competition either; compared to the previous year, she improved her result by 51 minutes, which is an incredible achievement.

With such results, is it any surprise there are wide smiles on the faces of our winning trio?

Finally, let’s return to our winner. Kilian Jornet won his first UTMB at the age of 20. Marcos still has two years to reach that milestone, although it’s uncertain if he will develop in the same way. However, he is undoubtedly a running talent of a similar scale. The day after the competition, he told me he is suspending longer-distance races for now and focusing on races up to 20 km, following the well-known principle that young people have a better chance in shorter distances. If talent goes hand in hand with wise choices, one can be confident about Marcos’ future.

 

Congratulations again to the whole trio!