Over 18,500 runners from 101 different countries will participate at the 35th annual Authentic Marathon, which will take place in Athens on the 12th of November.

Most of the athletes that will compete on the 42.195m route come from the UK (1,054), Italy (1,000), the USA (834), France (815) and Germany (741).

Other athletes have travelled from far-away countries such as Brazil, South Korea, New Zealand and Vietnam.

For many non-professional runners, the important target is simply to complete the race and manage to reach the finishing line at Panathenaic Stadium.

The race will start at 9am on Sunday. The Mayor of Athens, George Kaminis, will present the winners with their medals.

This year, for the first time, a new independent race called Run Greece will also be part of the Authentic Marathon. The top Marathon runners from previous years, will compete against each other for 3 kilometres.

Source: greekreporter.com