The Mountain Races Podcast

Cynthia Carson, women's winner of Hellenic Mountain Race 2026, fell violently ill on the opening hike-a-bike over Smolikas — what she calls the hardest thing she's ever done. With 700km still to go, she was forced to recalibrate and what follows was a masterclass in relentless self-care, patience, and perhaps a record quantity of glasses of milk consumed.

Read the interview

Production & hosting by Mel Webb
Sound design by Ben Crannell

Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Max Riese took the overall win at Hellenic Mountain Race 2026 by just 24 minutes, after a knife's-edge battle with his friend and rival Marc Büchel in the final days. We get into the obsessive route prep, a hailstorm that tipped him toward hypothermia, the full-compromise bike, and the metal-and-drum-and-bass playlist that carried him to the line.

Read the interview

Production & hosting by Mel Webb
Sound design by Ben Crannell

Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The final episode of our Hellenic Mountain Race coverage. We hear from riders at the finish line about their journey, and everything that they learned along the way.

Riders featured in this episode:
Daniel Magrizos — Cap 40
Colombine Courouble — Cap 33
Jeff Hehn — Cap 214A
Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 43
John Roe — Cap 86
Christina Chappetta — Cap 206A
Sabrina Ste-Marie — Caps 206B
Giannis Adamoudis — Cap 66

Follow the dots on MAProgress and follow @hellenicmountainrace on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.

Production & hosting by Mel Webb
Sound design by Ben Crannell

Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our penultimate episode, we jump ahead to the sea. CP3 is now closed, the heat is on, and Nafpaktos is filling up with riders who've made it. With plenty hanging around, we hear from some of them before heading up to the final climb before the sea.

Abe Kaufman — Cap 1
Arthur Bonal — Cap 17
Marc Büchel — Cap 106
Simone Eder — Cap 153
Urs Mannhart — Cap 164
James Penny — Cap 78
Sebastian Perzlmaeir — Caps 218A
Sven Schroeder — Cap 218B
Dániel Kövesházi — Cap 207A
Marcell Gangel — Cap 207B

Follow the dots on MAProgress and follow @hellenicmountainrace on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.

Production & hosting by Mel Webb
Sound design by Ben Crannell

Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day six, and the field is on the home stretch. As riders collect their final stamp at CP3 in Karpenissi, the race is taking its toll — cut hands, burst spokes, nine stitches, and a bumblebee with a bottle of Smirnoff for antiseptic. The weather has flipped: the snow and frozen passes of the early days are a distant memory, replaced by thunderstorms and scorching heat. We hear from riders at the checkpoint, on the climb up Kaliakouda, and cooling off in the turquoise water at the Stenoma–Viniani bridge.

Riders featured in this episode:

Marius Winter — Cap 112
Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 47
Emma Missale — Cap 209A
Sean Geivett — Cap 209B
James Penny — Cap 78
Michael Gaffey — Cap 125
Reese Butler — Cap 136
John Roe — Cap 86
Nils Dongowski — Cap 130
Alex MacLean — Cap 7
Adam Broyad — Cap 201A
Andrew Proffitt — Cap 201B

Follow the dots on MAProgress and follow @hellenicmountainrace on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.

Production & hosting by Mel Webb
Sound design by Ben Crannell

Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.