Spartathlon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Spartathlon is a 246 kilometres (152.9 mi) ultramarathon

Ultramarathon

An ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...

race held annually in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

since 1983 between Athens and Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

Origin

The Spartathlon aims to trace the footsteps of Pheidippides

Pheidippides

Pheidippides , hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.-The story:...

, an Athenian messenger sent to Sparta in 490 BC to seek help against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon

Battle of Marathon

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...

. Pheidippides, according to an account by Greek historian Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

in The Persian Wars, arrived in Sparta the day after he departed. Herodotus wrote: "On the occasion of which we speak when Pheidippides was sent by the Athenian generals, and, according to his own account, saw Pan on his journey, he reached Sparta on the very next day after quitting the city of Athens." . Based on this 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 and a half. Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Foden (37:37), John Scholtens (34:30) and John McCarthy in (39:00). 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. 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:

The individual has finished a race of at least 100 km (62.1 mi) in less than 10 hours, 30 minutes.
The individual has competed in an event of more than 200 kilometres (124.3 mi) and has completed the race.
The individual has already competed in Spartathlon and has reached the checkpoint "Nestani
Nestani
Nestani is a small village around 15km from Tripoli in the Peloponnese, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit Mantineia. The municipal district Nestani also contains the village of Milea....

" (172 km) in less than 24 hours, 30 minutes.

Records

Yiannis Kouros

Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or the "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days...

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

In 2008, Scott Jurek

Scott Jurek

Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner. Throughout Jurek's career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport's most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred , the Badwater Ultramarathon , the Spartathlon ,...

won his third straight title, clocking the fifth fastest time in the history of the race. Only Kouros (four times) has run the course faster than Jurek.

In 2007, the 25th anniversary competition had a record 323 starters and the 2008 race had a record 151 finishers under the 36 hour cut-off time.

Following are the winners of the Spartathlon

Men

Year	Athlete	Time (hours:minutes:seconds)
2011	Ivan Cudin	22:57:40
2010	Ivan Cudin	23:03:06
2009	Ryoichi Sekiya	23:48:24
2008	Scott Jurek Scott Jurek Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner. Throughout Jurek's career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport's most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred , the Badwater Ultramarathon , the Spartathlon ,...	22:20:01
2007	Scott Jurek Scott Jurek Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner. Throughout Jurek's career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport's most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred , the Badwater Ultramarathon , the Spartathlon ,...	23:12:14
2006	Scott Jurek Scott Jurek Scott Gordon Jurek is an American ultramarathoner. Throughout Jurek's career he has been one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world, winning many of the sport's most prestigious races multiple times, including the Hardrock Hundred , the Badwater Ultramarathon , the Spartathlon ,...	22:52:18
2005	Jens Lukas	24:20:39
2004	Jens Lukas	25:49:59
2003	Markus Thalmann	23:28:24
2002	Ryōichi Sekiya	23:47:54
2001	Valmir Nunes Valmir Nunes Valmir Nunes is a Brazilian runner. A former world record holder, he currently holds South American and Brazilian Ultramarathon records.-Career:...	23:18:05
2000	Masayuki Ōtaki	24:01:10
1999	Jens Lukas	25:38:03
1998	Kostas Reppos	25:11:41
1997	Kostas Reppos	23:37:00
1996	Roland Vuillemenot	26:21:00
1995	James Zarei	25:59:42
1994	James Zarei	26:15:00
1993	Rune Larsson	25:57:12
1992	Rusko Kantiev	24:15:31
1991	János Bogár	24:15:31
1990	Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or the "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days...	20:29:00
1989	Patrick Macke	24:32:00
1988	Rune Larsson	24:42:00
1987	Rune Larsson	24:41:00
1986	Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or the "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days...	21:57:00
1985	Patrick Macke	23:18:00
1984	Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or the "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days...	20:25:00
1983	Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or the "Pheidippides Successor". He holds every men's outdoor road world record from 100 to 1,000 miles and every road and track record from 12 hours to 6 days...	21:53:00

Women

Year	Athlete	Time
2011	Szilvia Lubics	29:07:39
2010	Emily Gelder	30:17:03
2009	Sumie Inagaki	27:39:49
2008	Sook-Hue Hur	30:03:22
2007	Akiko Sakamoto	31:09:24
2006	Sumie Inagaki	28:37:20
2005	Kimie Noto	30:23:07
2004	Kimie Noto	29:57:40
2003	Akiko Sakamoto	29:07:44
2002	Irina Reutovich	28:10:48
2001	Alzira Portela-Lario	30:31:41
2000	Hiroko Okiyama	29:16:37
1999	Anny Monot	35:38:08
1998	Mary Larsson	28:46.58
1997	Helga Backhaus	30:39
1996	Helga Backhaus	29:50
1995	Helga Backhaus	29:33
1994	Helga Backhaus	30:41
1993	Sigrid Lomsky	32:43:32
1992	Hilary Walker	29:49:49
1991	Ursula Blasberg	34:42:45
1990	Anne-Marie Deguilhem	34:07:41
1989	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson)	31:57:23
1988	–
1987	Hilary Walker	31:23:30
1986	Waltraud Reisert	32:21
1985	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson)	34:10
1984	Mary Hanudel (later Mary Larsson) Lorna Richey (later Lorna Michael)	34:15:10
1983	Eleanor Adams	32:37:52

All-time top 50 performances

	Athlete	Time	Country	Year	Place	Age
1.	Yiannis Kouros	20:25:00	GRE	1984	1	28
2.	Yiannis Kouros	20:29:04	GRE	1990	1	34
3.	Yiannis Kouros	21:53:42	GRE	1983	1	27
4.	Yiannis Kouros	21:57:00	GRE	1986	1	30
5.	Scott Jurek	22:20:01	USA	2008	1	34
6.	Scott Jurek	22:52:18	USA	2006	1	32
7.	Ivan Cudin	22:57:40	ITA	2011	1	36
8.	Ivan Cudin	23:03:06	ITA	2010	1	35
9.	Patrik Macke	23:08:41	GBR	1990	2	35
10.	Scott Jurek	23:12:14	USA	2007	1	33
11.	Patrik Macke	23:18:00	GBR	1985	1	30
12.	Valmir Nunes	23:18:05	BRA	2001	1	37
13.	Markus Thalmann	23:28:24	AUT	2003	1	39
14.	Jan Lantink	23:31:22	HOL	2010	2	52
15.	Kostas Reppos	23:37:00	GRE	1997	1	31
16.	Dusan Mravlje	23:44:00	YUG	1985	2	32
17.	Riochy Sekiya	23:47:54	JPN	2002	1	35
18.	Riochy Sekiya	23:48:24	JPN	2009	1	42
19.	Ohtaki Masayuki	24:01:10	JPN	2000	1	34
20.	Rusko Kantief	24:08:13	BUL	1992	1	34
21.	Ryoichi Sekiya	24:14:11	JPN	2006	2	39
22.	János Bogár	24:15:31	HUN	1991	1	27
23.	Jens Lukas	24:20:39	GER	2005	1	39
24.	Piotr Kurylo	24:29:41	POL	2007	2	35
25.	Lars Christoffers	24:31:45	DEN	2009	2	37
26.	Patrik Macke	24:32:05	GBR	1989	1	34
27.	Dusan Mravlje	24:39:22	YUG	1983	2	30
28.	Dusan Mravlje	24:40:38	YUG	1984	2	31
29.	Rune Larsson	24:41:46	SWE	1987	1	31
30.	Jean-Dominique Calbera	24:42:00	FRA	1985	3	37
31.	Rune Larsson	24:42:05	SWE	1988	1	32
32.	Jens Lukas	24:46:51	GER	2001	2	35
33.	János Bogár	24:49:19	HUN	1990	3	26
34.	Marcus Thalmann	24:52:09	AUT	2008	2	44
35.	Jan Prockaska	24:55:58	GER	2010	3	44
36.	Jens Lukas	24:59:54	GER	2000	2	34
37.	Jean-Jacques Moros	25:03:30	FRA	2005	2	35
38.	Paul Beckers	25:05:48	BEL	1992	2	30
39.	Jon Berge	25:09:38	NOR	2009	3	40
40.	Kostas Reppos	25:11:41	GRE	1998	1	32
41.	Markus Thalmann	25:16:56	AUT	2002	2	38
42.	Masayuki Ohtaki	25:19:12	JPN	2006	3	40
43.	Ryoichi Sekiya	25:27:30	JPN	2001	3	34
44.	Rune Larsson	25:28:48	SWE	1989	2	33
45.	Lars Skytte Christoffersen	25:29:41	DEN	2008	3	36
46.	Valmir Nunes	25:30:35	BRA	2003	2	39
47.	Rune Larsson	25:32:55	SWE	1990	4	34
48.	Akihiko Kumasaka	25:34:49	JAP	2001	4	33
49.	Verhagen Gees	25:35:50	HOL	2000	3	40
50.	Valmir Nunes	25:37:40	BRA	2007	2	43

External links

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