On The Trail With Helen

 Sta monapartia me thn Eleni / On the trail with Helen

Hi everyone!

My name is Helen and I love exploring Crete, the mountains and the trails.  I am excited to share with you some of my favourite routes 🙂

Malaxa - The Overlooked Mountain

I want to start off with Malaxa which is the closest mountain to Chania yet often overlooked!  It is  only a 15 minute drive from the centre. 

There are 2 main starting points at the bottom:

1) either to the East which is by the Arts & Craft village close to the highway or

2) on the West side of the mountain from the village of Nerokouros.

And one at the top: If you prefer to start at the top then the best place is in the village of Malaxa.

If you start at the bottom, the trail system there can take you up to the village of Malaxa, even higher to the antennas, round the back side with epic view of the white mountains.

Traversing across the mountain you will pass numerous churches nestled into the mountain side and even pass an ancient spring where you can enjoy delicious fresh mountain water from.

You can see it in all its beauty in the 1 minute video below.

Finding the path

There are some crude markings made with paint on parts of the trail but as sections frequently intersect with each other and the mountain itself isn’t that big, I think it would be difficult to get lost and perhaps part of the fun is to see where the different trails lead. 

If you are feeling nervous then you can do out and back sections until you are familiar with the landscape.

You can also reach out to me for gpx files which you can download to your favourite apps on your phone like Kamoot, Alltrails, Gaia, Wikiloc, Strava etc

These trails are beautiful all year round and have sweeping views of Chania and Souda Bay. In the spring the flowers are bright and vibrant and even in the summer the landscapes are a lush green.

The 3 Churches loop

                              

One of my favourite routes (that I like to take newbie trail runners on) is what I call the “3 churches” loop.

It is 6.5kms with 350m of uphill.  You start from the small car park in Nerokouro.

You make your way to the ancient spring, traverse across to the right and trek uphill towards the first of 3 churches.

Next, you traverse back to the left to the 2nd church, make your way down the dirt road to the 3rd church and then make a loop and head back to the car.

The Power of Community

If I can share all this information with you it is because I am so passioned about running and hiking. Running has changed my life completely.

For me it’s as much for my physical health as well as my mental health but more importantly it is the community that comes with it that makes it so special.

I still remember when I first started running (jogging!) and it wasn’t easy. My mission is to support as many people as possible on their way to discovering not only the health benefits but also the fun of running, being in nature and sharing great moments with a group of likeminded people.

That is why I run a free social run every Monday and I have developed a Step into Running program for people who would like to start with running. Click on the links to find out more.

Who is speaking?

I am Helen, I am an ultra runner and sports nutritional advisor.  I am Cretan British and I have been coming to the island for 35 years. I lived and worked in the UK, Asia, America before quitting the corporate world and discovering my passion for running and the outdoors

I set the women's world record for the fastest known time to run across the state of Arizona which was 1,400kms, running for 17 consecutive days, the equivalent of 2 marathons a day.

  If you would like to book a tour with me or have any questions about the trails featured here or are looking for more inspiration, please do not hesitate to reach out to me:

https://www.facebook.com/livehappyrungreece

https://www.facebook.com/helen.galerakis/

https://linktr.ee/livehappyrunfree