Crete
Kavousi Mountain Races
One of the hardest races in Crete, by its organisers' account: 22.3 km and 1,450 m of climbing from the village of Kavousi into the Thripti mountains, eleven kilometres of it inside the Mesonas gorge. Mule paths and old kalderimi through holm oak and cypress, up to the little Limnia plateau, then home down the E4 with the whole Gulf of Mirabello below. More than 85% of it on path.
Every section of this page was checked against the organiser's pages, ITRA and the GPX on 25 Sept 2026
Kavousi Mountain Half Marathon 22K
Not on ITRA ITRA had no listing for this course when we checked on 25 Sept 2026. Short, fun and kids' courses are rarely listed; points are set per editionDistance - 22.3 km
Ascent - 1,450 m
Vert / km - 65 m
Start - Sun 09:00
Course profile coming soon: recon for this distance is in progress.
Surface
Terrain & tactics
A loop from the village square, 85% path and 15% farm track by the organisers' figures, with very technical stretches both up and down. Many of the paths were cleared for the race to replace dirt road. The route: the Chavgas and Mesonas gorges, the farm hamlets of Panagia and Melisses in the Avgo valley, the abandoned settlements of Trapeza and Kato Mylonia, the hamlets of Tsamantis and Drakalevri on Thripti, the little Limnia plateau, Byzantine chapels, holm-oak and cypress forest at Xarampela, and the E4 kalderimi down with the view over the Gulf of Mirabello. Five stations, one of them central, each with water, isotonic drink, cola, fruit, salty and sweet snacks, raisins and nuts. The rules do not say at which kilometres. The organisers publish no GPX for this course, so there is no map line or profile here.