Run the Menalon, recover by the sea

Our driver meets you in arrivals at Athens airport, so book a flight landing by 9am. Ancient Nemea comes first, with a licensed guide for about 75 minutes: the stadium of around 330 BC, the vaulted tunnel just over 36 m long where athletes scratched their names (one reads NIKO), the changing room and the temple of Zeus. Lunch in Nemea is light, with a glass of agiorgitiko, the valley’s red grape, for anyone who wants one.

Manna is about 1 hour 40 minutes on, in the fir forest; road time today is about 3 hours 20 minutes in all. Around 5.30pm there is a short shakeout run on forest tracks, then 20 minutes of mobility. The welcome dinner at Manna is booked for the whole group.

By 9am (8am in June and September) we are on the trail at Stemnitsa, about 1 hour 10 minutes by road. Section 1 of the Menalon Trail covers 13 km with 640 m of climbing and 760 m of descent, opening with a steep, continuous stone drop to the river. A trail-running guide sets the pace; plan on three to four hours of running and walking. Moni Prodromou is built into the gorge wall, a stone staircase links the Old and New Philosophou monasteries, and the stream crosses the path in places. Lunch is in Dimitsana, then 50 minutes back to Manna for the sauna and hammam. Dinner is free; we book. Bring a layer that covers shoulders and knees for the monastery.

Kernitsa monastery, built into a single boulder above a stone bridge, is about 20 minutes from Manna. From there the trail runs through fir forest to the Sfyrida hermitage and its spring at 1,000 m, then makes the day’s one sustained climb, about 250 m, to the Lasta junction at 1,250 m. A level traverse passes the Gavros spring on the way to Magouliana, and the final section into Valtesiniko is non-technical. Lunch is in Valtesiniko square, followed by sauna and hammam at Manna and an hour of yoga at 6pm. Dinner is free; we book. The easier option is to stop in Magouliana and ride the rest in the vehicle.

Section 3 of the Menalon Trail is the longest and highest day: about 14 km from Zygovisti, 45 minutes by road, on the trail by 8.30am. Expect three and a half to four and a half hours of running and walking. The route climbs steeply from Asoves to the Bilali pass, crosses the Koskitsa plateau and the saddle between Pliovouni (1,643 m) and Fragovouni, then drops a steep 150 m into Vlachika before the Paleochori fountain and the chapel. Lunch is in Elati, 25 minutes from Manna. A 60-minute sports massage follows, the cave pool is ours from 7pm, and the mid-trip dinner is hosted in Arcadia. Carry your own water today.

We leave Manna at 7.30am for the drive of about two hours to Mavrommati. The run follows a dirt track to Ithome’s summit plateau at about 800 m, past the sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis to the Old Voulkano monastery, probably the site of the sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas, then takes a rocky path down to the Klepsydra spring: about 7 km and 400 m of climbing. Around 11.30am a licensed guide spends about two hours with you in Ancient Messene: theatre, Asklepieion, stadium and walls about 9 km around. Late lunch is in Mavrommati, then 40 minutes to Kalamata and a sea swim. Dinner is free. The site has little shade, so wear a hat.

Kardamyli is about 45 minutes from Kalamata, so breakfast is early and we leave at 7am. At 7.45am a 6.4 km loop climbs 190 m through Old Kardamyli, Agia Sofia, the Viros gorge and the ruins of the Lykaki monastery, on rock and steps, technical in places. Giorgos and the kayak team launch at 9.30am from the old customs house at St John’s harbour, along the Outer Mani cliffs and into the Blue Cave if the sea is calm. Lunch is a picnic and a swim on a pebble cove reached only by water, back by about 1.30pm, before the south-westerly. A sports massage follows from 4pm; dinner is free. You must be able to swim. Bring 1 L of water, swim kit, a hat and dry clothes.

At 8am the vehicle leaves for the trailhead near Charavgi, about 50 minutes away. Polylimnio is a walk of about 3 km and two hours past 15 to 17 small lakes and the Kadoula waterfall, about 25 m high, with a swim at Lake Kadi when conditions allow. Divari is 35 minutes on, and from there a flat run follows the Gialova lagoon dirt road to Voidokilia, a Natura 2000 site for migrating birds, with a swim below Nestor’s Cave. Lunch is at an olive farm with a koroneiki producer: grove walk and tasting, cooking on request. Yoga and breathing by the sea come at 6pm, then the farewell dinner in Kalamata. Wear shoes that can get wet.

An easy, unguided run on the flat Kalamata seafront before breakfast, or a walk and a stretch, closes the week’s running. Breakfast is the last included meal. Leaving at 9am, the vehicle covers the drive of about three hours to Athens airport with one stop and arrives around 1pm. Book a flight after 3pm. Pack the night before: the run, breakfast and the road leave little room in the morning.