Arkalos Team

A few days after the end of the Sfakia Sky Marathon, we sent an email to all participants asking them to fill out a survey asking for your opinion about our competition. Below are the results.

The results of the Sfakia Sky Marathon 2024 have been published on the ITRA website, and since yesterday all competitors have been awarded points. We are pleased to inform you that in several cases these are the best results that our competitors have recorded.

The photo below 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?

Sunday, October 27 is the second day of the Sfakia Sky competition. Traditionally, on this day we run the Vertical on the route from Loutro to Anopoli. The tradition of this vertical is much older than the tradition of the marathon distance. This year, the Sfakia Vertical Run will be held for the 10th time, so we have a small anniversary.

Madara is the highest, most inaccessible and driest area of ​​the White Mountains (Lefka Ori). On the competition route, it is a section from about 15 to 35 km

Thanks to the support of our partner Anek Lines, each competitor participating in the @Sfakia Sky Marathon will pay only 50% of the ferry ticket price on the Piraeus – Chania and Chania – Piraeus routes.

The Strategic Partnership between Argithea Mountain Race and Sfakia Sky Marathon brings direct benefits to the competitors. We are pleased to announce that the winners of the Argithea Mountain Race 30 km in 2024 are guaranteed a free start in the Sfakia Sky Marathon in 2024.

The Sfakia Sky Marathon races are registered in ITRA and UTMB. Therefore, each competitor will receive an appropriate number of points in both organizations depending on the result achieved. ITRA created a system for evaluating competitors’ achievements during mountain races several years ago, and although it is not entirely transparent to us, it presents a quite reliable points system which is known worldwide.

After only 300 m of running we leave Loutro, or to be more precise, we leave the seaside boulevard. The route turns sharply to the left and begins to climb narrow streets, which are actually a sequence of stairs, only occasionally interspersed with flat sections. However, all this only lasts a moment, Loutro is a microscopic village, we pass the last house and a gate protecting the inhabitants from the invasion of sheep and goats.