Spartathlon

The monument containing the name of the Spartathlon winners in Sparta

The finisher’s medal

The reverse side of the medal

Spartathlon is a 246 kilometre (152.85 miles) ultramarathon race held in Greece since 1983 between Athens and Sparta.

HISTORY

Spartathlon '2007

Quarter Century Race The 25th Spartathlon will take place on Friday to Saturday 28 - 29 September 2007, when in excess of 300 international runners will participate in this classic event. A programme of social events will run from Wednesday 26th September to Monday 1st October.

Origin

The Spartathlon aims to trace footsteps of Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger sent to Sparta in 490 BC to seek help against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. Pheidippides, according to Greek historian Herodotus arrived in Sparta the day after he departed. Based on Herodotus' account, British RAF Wing Commander John Foden and four other RAF officers travelled to Greece in 1982 on an official expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250 kilometres in a day an a half. Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Foden (36:00), John Scholtens (34:30) and John McCarthy in (39:58). In the following year a team of enthusiastic supporters (British, Greek and other nationalities) based on the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Athens and led by Philhellene Michael Callaghan organised the running of the first Open International Spartathlon Race. It was agreed that John Foden’s finishing time of 36 hours be adopted as the official cut-off time and the event was run under the auspices of SEGAS, the Hellenic Amateur Athletics Association

The race

The race starts at 7:00 am, usually on the last Friday each September, at the foot of the Acropolis. It runs out of Athens toward the coast and runs along the coast towards Corinth via Elefsis, Megara, and Kineta. The route reaches the Corinth Canal at 78.5 kilometres and the runners hit the first of six major check points at 81 kilometres.

After Corinth, the race heads toward Ancient Corinth, Nemea, Lyrkia and at 159 kilometres, reaches the top of Mount Parthenio. From there, it continues south toward Nestani and Tegea, before reaching the main Sparta highway just before the 200 kilometer mark.

Runners must pass through 75 checkpoints along the way and each checkpoint has a cut-off time. Runners outside the cut-off may be pulled out of the race although tardiness in the first half of the race is generally tolerated. This tolerance begins to fade after sunset and in the last third of the race, organisers may pull out runners who are either outside the time limit or who display extreme fatigue.

Entry requirements

In order to run in this race an individual must meet at least one of the following requirements:

1. The individual has finished a race of at least 100 km in less than 10 hours, 30 minutes.
2. The individual has already competed in Spartathlon and has reached the checkpoint "Nestani" ( 172 km ) in less than 24 hours, 30 minutes.
3. The individual has already competed in Spartathlon and reached the finish line.
4. The individual has competed in an event of more than 200 kilometers and has finished the race regardless of the time.

Records

Yiannis Kouros, who won the first Spartathlon, still holds the record time at 20:25:00. Kouros competed in four Spartahlons, won all four and holds the four fastest times ever recorded. In 2005, he decided to trace the steps of Pheiddipides completely and ran - out of competition - the Athens-Sparta-Athens distance.

Following are the winners of the Sparathlon

Men

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
2006	Scott Jurek	United States	22:52:18
2005	Jens Lukas	Germany	24:20:39
2004	Jens Lukas	Germany	25:49:59
2003	Markus Thalmann	Austria	23:28:24
2002	Ryōichi Sekiya	Japan	23:47:54
2001	Valmir Nunes	Brazil	23:18:05
2000	Masayuki Ōtaki	Japan	24:01:10
1999	Jens Lukas	Germany	25:38:03
1998	Kostas Reppos	Greece	25:11:41
1997	Kostas Reppos	Greece	23:37
1996	Ronald Vuillemenot	France	26:21:00
1995	James Zarei	England	25:59:42
1994	James Zarei	England	26:15:00
1993	Rune Larsson	Sweden	25:57:12
1992	Rusko Kantiev	Bulgaria	24:15:31
1991	János Bogár	Hungary	24:15:31
1990	Yiannis Kouros	Greece	20:29
1989	Patrick Macke	England	24:32:00
1988	Rune Larsson	Sweden	24:42:00
1987	Rune Larsson	Sweden	24:41:00
1986	Yiannis Kouros	Greece	21:57
1985	Patrick Macke	England	23:18
1984	Yiannis Kouros	Greece	20:25
1983	Yiannis Kouros	Greece	21:53

Women

Year	Athlete	Country	Time
2006	Sumie Inagaki	Japan	28:37:20
2005	Kimie Noto	Japan	30:23:07
2004	Kimie Noto	Japan	29:57:40
2003	Akiko Sakamoto	Japan	29:07:44
2002	Irina Reutovich	Russia	28:10:48
2001	Alzira Portela-Lario	Portugal	30:31:41
2000	Hiroko Okiyama	Japan	29:16:37
1999	Anny Monot	France	35:38:08
1998	Mary Larsson	Sweden	28:46.58
1997	Helga Backhaus	Germany	30:39
1996	Helga Backhaus	Germany	29:50
1995	Helga Backhaus	Germany	29:33
1994	Helga Backhaus	Germany	30:41
1993	Sigrid Lomsky	Germany	32:43:32
1992	Hilary Walker	United Kingdom	29:49:49
1991	Ursula Blasberg	Germany	34:42:45
1990	Anne-Marie Deguilhem	France	34:07:41
1989	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson)	United States	31:57:23
1988	–
1987	Hilary Walker	United Kingdom	31:23:30
1986	Waltraud Reisert	Germany	32:21
1985	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson)	United States	34:10
1984	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson)	United States	34:15:10
1983	Eleanor Adams	United Kingdom	32:37:52

External links

• Official Website for Spartathlon
• Rune Larsson's advice to Spartathlon runners
• John Foden's article on how the Spartathlon has changed over the years
• John Foden's article on time spent at refreshment points