<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/resources/in-conversation-with-cynthia-carson-womens-winner-of-the-2026-hellenic-mountain-race" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Read the interview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production &amp;amp; hosting by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Mel Webb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound design by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Ben Crannell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Hellenic Mountain Race 2026

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. <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/resources/in-conversation-with-cynthia-carson-womens-winner-of-the-2026-hellenic-mountain-race" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the interview</a> Production &amp; hosting by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mel Webb</a>Sound design by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Crannell</a> <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

The Mountain Races Podcast

HMR 2026: Cynthia Carson, Women's Winner

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="www.themountainraces.cc/resources/in-conversation-with-max-riese-winner-of-the-2026-hellenic-mountain-race" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Read the interview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production &amp;amp; hosting by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Mel Webb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound design by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Ben Crannell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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. <a href="www.themountainraces.cc/resources/in-conversation-with-max-riese-winner-of-the-2026-hellenic-mountain-race" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Read the interview</a> Production &amp; hosting by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mel Webb</a>Sound design by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Crannell</a> <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

HMR 2026: Max Riese, Men's Winner

<description>&lt;p&gt;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. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Riders featured in this episode:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Daniel Magrizos — Cap 40&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Colombine Courouble — Cap 33&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Jeff Hehn — Cap 214A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 43&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;John Roe — Cap 86&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Christina Chappetta — Cap 206A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sabrina Ste-Marie — Caps 206B&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Giannis Adamoudis — Cap 66&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the dots on &lt;a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;MAProgress&lt;/a&gt; and follow &lt;a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;@hellenicmountainrace&lt;/a&gt; on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production &amp;amp; hosting by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Mel Webb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound design by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Ben Crannell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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:<ul><li>Daniel Magrizos — Cap 40</li><li>Colombine Courouble — Cap 33</li><li>Jeff Hehn — Cap 214A</li><li>Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 43</li><li>John Roe — Cap 86</li><li>Christina Chappetta — Cap 206A</li><li>Sabrina Ste-Marie — Caps 206B</li><li>Giannis Adamoudis — Cap 66</li></ul> Follow the dots on <a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MAProgress</a> and follow <a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@hellenicmountainrace</a> on Instagram for visual updates from the trail. Production &amp; hosting by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mel Webb</a>Sound design by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Crannell</a> <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

HMR 2026: The Finish Line

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Abe Kaufman — Cap 1 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Arthur Bonal — Cap 17 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Marc Büchel — Cap 106 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Simone Eder — Cap 153 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Urs Mannhart — Cap 164 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;James Penny — Cap 78 &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sebastian Perzlmaeir — Caps 218A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sven Schroeder — Cap 218B &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Dániel Kövesházi — Cap 207A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Marcell Gangel — Cap 207B&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the dots on &lt;a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;MAProgress&lt;/a&gt; and follow &lt;a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;@hellenicmountainrace&lt;/a&gt; on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production &amp;amp; hosting by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Mel Webb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound design by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Ben Crannell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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. <ul><li>Abe Kaufman — Cap 1 </li><li>Arthur Bonal — Cap 17 </li><li>Marc Büchel — Cap 106 </li><li>Simone Eder — Cap 153 </li><li>Urs Mannhart — Cap 164 </li><li>James Penny — Cap 78 </li><li>Sebastian Perzlmaeir — Caps 218A</li><li>Sven Schroeder — Cap 218B </li><li>Dániel Kövesházi — Cap 207A</li><li>Marcell Gangel — Cap 207B</li></ul> Follow the dots on <a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MAProgress</a> and follow <a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@hellenicmountainrace</a> on Instagram for visual updates from the trail. Production &amp; hosting by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mel Webb</a>Sound design by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Crannell</a> <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

HMR 2026 Day 7: Beautifully Stupid

<description>&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Riders featured in this episode: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Marius Winter — Cap 112&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 47&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Emma Missale — Cap 209A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Sean Geivett — Cap 209B&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;James Penny — Cap 78&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Michael Gaffey — Cap 125&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Reese Butler — Cap 136&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;John Roe — Cap 86&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nils Dongowski — Cap 130&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Alex MacLean — Cap 7&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Adam Broyad — Cap 201A&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Andrew Proffitt — Cap 201B&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow the dots on &lt;a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;MAProgress&lt;/a&gt; and follow &lt;a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;@hellenicmountainrace&lt;/a&gt; on Instagram for visual updates from the trail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;Production &amp;amp; hosting by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Mel Webb&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sound design by &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Ben Crannell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

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: <ul><li>Marius Winter — Cap 112</li><li>Efthymios Tsipouras — Cap 47</li><li>Emma Missale — Cap 209A</li><li>Sean Geivett — Cap 209B</li><li>James Penny — Cap 78</li><li>Michael Gaffey — Cap 125</li><li>Reese Butler — Cap 136</li><li>John Roe — Cap 86</li><li>Nils Dongowski — Cap 130</li><li>Alex MacLean — Cap 7</li><li>Adam Broyad — Cap 201A</li><li>Andrew Proffitt — Cap 201B</li></ul> Follow the dots on <a href="https://hmr26.maprogress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MAProgress</a> and follow <a href="https://instagram.com/hellenicmountainrace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@hellenicmountainrace</a> on Instagram for visual updates from the trail. Production &amp; hosting by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/melwwebb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mel Webb</a>Sound design by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bencrannell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Crannell</a> <a href="https://www.themountainraces.cc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our website to learn more about The Mountain Races</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

HMR 2026 Day 6: Patience Over Panic

We report live from the field in Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Greece &amp; Turkïye. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

The Mountain Races Podcast

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