On Sunday, November 13, 2022, the 39th Athens Marathon - the Authentic Marathon took place. In this historically important event last year, the Agricultural University of Athens participated for the first time with the newly established team of runners "AUA RUNNING", consisting of 41 runners in the 5km route and 2 marathon runners in the 42km route. This year, the number of participants of the "AUA RUNNING" team reached 125 runners, who took part in the 5km, 10km and 42km routes, as well as in the Universities 10km Night Run, the 10km Night Run, only for university students from all over the world, held for the first time in the evening hours of 12 November 2022.

The participation of the Agricultural University of Athens in this year's 42 km Marathon Race was impressive with 10 runners, who represented the Foundation with impressive performances. In particular, Mr. Ioannis Lolos, student of the Department of Biotechnology in his first participation in the Authentic Marathon of Athens, achieved an excellent performance with a time of 2:59:16 and finished in 168th place among more than 15,000 athletes, placing him and the team "AUA RUNNING" in the list of the best Marathon runners in Greece (http://www.runningnews.gr/mitem.php?id=51279).

The "AUA RUNNING" team was honored with the presence of the Rector's Authorities and in particular the Vice Rector of Administrative Affairs, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, Mr. Nikolaos Durkas, Professor and the Vice Rector of Research and Lifelong Education, Mr. Stavros Zographakis, Professor, faculty members, members of the administrative services and students who formed the main body of the delegation, thus giving hope for a more massive student participation in the next event.  Ms. Polyxeni Tsaliagou, a founding member of the "AUA RUNNING" team and Professor of Physical Education, was again responsible for the coordination and organization of the participation in the 39th Authentic Athens Marathon.

All the participants expressed their satisfaction from the experience they had in the races, proving in the best way that the "AUA RUNNING" runners' team achieves its goals, namely to attract as many members of the university community as possible to participate in sports and other activities, giving them the opportunity to get to know each other in conditions outside the daily working environment, tightening relationships and creating a sense of belonging to the wider GPA team. In addition, the joy expressed by all participants highlighted the need for similar activities that motivate more and more members of the university community to acquire healthy habits and behaviours, lifelong. The "AUA RUNNING" group will continue its actions and invites the entire university community to participate.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Photography Team of the Agricultural University of Athens, AUA Clicks! once again warmly supported the sporting action of "AUA RUNNING" by appointing 2 photographers to capture snapshots of the races.  Her contribution was decisive in having photographic shots that highlight all the liveliness and enthusiasm of the participants. The photos of the event are posted at the following link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WkWLybFr2S7vvyMu5 .