Giannatis Wins Thessaloniki Night Half Marathon Again as 11,000 Run

By Taki Panos

On Saturday night it looked as if all of Thessaloniki had decided to go for a run at once. About 11,000 runners from 64 countries filled the streets for the 14th Thessaloniki International Night Half Marathon, a new record for individual entries, ERT reported. Orfeas Giannatis won the 21.1 km race in 1:08:48 for the second year in a row, and Aikaterini (Katerina) Koutli won the women's race in 1:17:29, per Typos Thessalonikis. Every race on the programme finished in Aristotelous Square, right on the waterfront.

For readers new to it, the "Nychterinos", as the Greek press calls it, is one of the biggest running nights on the Greek calendar. It is organized by the MEAS Triton association of Thessaloniki, in cooperation with the City of Thessaloniki and with support from several western municipalities, politic.gr noted. This year it came back to the city centre after two years on the western side of town. The half marathon started at 7:30 PM on 26th October Street, a road that carries the date of the city's liberation in 1912 (more in our story on the liberation of Thessaloniki), Voria.gr reported.

The runners set off to Sakis Rouvas's hit "Min Antistekesai", looped through the western neighbourhoods and finished at Aristotelous Square, which turned into one big open-air party, according to Paraskhnio. Demand was huge. Even the 1,500 extra places released at the registration centre at the HELEXPO grounds sold out in about five hours, Sport24 reported before the race, and organizers expected more foreign runners than ever. The half marathon itself had about 2,500 starters, per politic.gr, with the rest spread across the mile, 5 km and 10 km races earlier in the evening.

The men's race was a real contest. Voria.gr described a thrilling run that turned in the final two kilometres, with Giannatis crossing first in 1:08:48. Lampros Taratsas was just seven seconds back in 1:08:55, and Vasilis Tsalmas finished third in 1:10:58. Giannatis, an athlete of Iraklis, Metrosport noted (the club's basketball team also just picked up its first GBL win of the season), was only one second slower than his winning time in 2025, which World Athletics lists at 1:08:47. Two years, one second apart. That is not luck.

In the women's race, Koutli finished almost three minutes clear of Foteini Mystakidou (1:20:26), with Stella Alexandridou third in 1:21:27, per politic.gr. It was her first half marathon in Thessaloniki, and she was honest about the course. "They promised me it was flat, but it wasn't," she said with a laugh, as quoted by Metrosport (translated from Greek). "Luckily I had worked on the hills and it went well. The presence of the crowd gave us a push." Before the race, organizers had billed the new routes as completely flat, Sport24 wrote. Some runners may beg to differ.

Koutli also made it clear that Saturday was not the main event of her autumn. "My next goal is the Valencia Marathon," she told Metrosport (translated from Greek). "Now the preparation for that race begins, and today I did a test. I could have run a better time, but I enjoyed it." Winning a big home race by almost three minutes and calling it a test is a very confident way to start a marathon build.

The shorter races had their own winners. In the 10 km, Nikodimos Nikolakeas won in 31:12 ahead of Alexandros Tzoumakas (32:08) and Konstantinos Deletzes (33:25), ERT reported. Zoi Stamouli took the women's 10 km in 38:50, ahead of Despoina-Evanthia Loukidou (40:17) and Ismini Panagiotopoulou (40:40). Nikolakeas said the cool weather suits him, and that there were some tough uphill stretches and a fair bit of wind in the first half before the run back after the turnaround made up for it, per Metrosport. So much for flat, again.

Orfeas Ioannou of Panaxiakos won the 5 km in 15:05, Metrosport reported, repeating his win from the 2025 edition, which World Athletics also records. Amalia Theodoriadou won the women's 5 km in 18:54 for her first win in the event. "It's the first time I have won in my city," she said (translated from Greek). Earlier in the evening, the family mile went to Theodoros Korexenidis (5:55) and Filareti Azemopoulou (6:11), ERT reported. Hundreds of children took part in that one, politic.gr noted, which is the best kind of talent pipeline.

The numbers that stayed with me were not the winning times, though. Race director Drosos Christopoulos said the youngest participant was 12 and the oldest was 85, ERT reported. Voria.gr wrote that the loudest applause of the night went to three athletes in wheelchairs who completed the full 21 km, and that runners with disabilities and from socially vulnerable groups took part in every race on the programme. That is the part of a city race that never shows up in a results table.

Kostas Gioutikas, Thessaloniki's deputy regional governor and president of the organizing committee, said turnout was bigger than in any previous year. "This race proves that Thessaloniki can organize big sporting events," he told ERT3 (translated from Greek), per ERT. Christopoulos was pleased overall, but he admitted that the 10 km had some technical issues because of the sheer numbers. Fair enough. When more people show up than ever before, something is going to creak, and that beats empty streets.

My take: this is exactly the kind of event Greece should keep growing. It mixes serious racing, with Greek champions chasing times, and a street party that draws ordinary runners from 64 countries. For visitors, it is a great excuse to spend an October weekend in the north (here is how to get from Athens to Thessaloniki, and our list of the top restaurants in Thessaloniki for the post-race meal). Bringing the race back to the centre was the right call. Aristotelous Square at night, full of runners, is a postcard.

Next up is the rest of the road season. Koutli is now building toward Valencia, while Giannatis has won Thessaloniki's big night race two years running, and it would be no surprise to see him back to defend it. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for more on Greek running and Olympic sports. Thessaloniki ran the night, and it looked good doing it.

Sources: ERT, Typos Thessalonikis, Metrosport, Metrosport 5 km report, politic.gr, Voria.gr, Paraskhnio, Sport24, World Athletics.

Image: View of Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki by Park Hotel-1, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0, public domain dedication).