Spartathlon

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Monument in Sparta with names of Spartathlon winners
The finisher’s medal
The reverse side of the medal

Spartathlon is a 246-kilometre (153 mi) ultramarathon race held annually in Greece since 1983 between Athens and Sparta.

Origin

The Spartathlon aims to trace the 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 an account by Greek historian Herodotus 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.".[1] 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).[2] The following year a team of enthusiastic supporters (British, Greek and other nationalities) based at 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 of September, at the foot of the Acropolis. It runs out of Athens toward the coast and 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 mi) in less than 10 hours, 30 minutes.
  • The individual has competed in an event of more than 200 kilometers (120 mi) and has completed the race.
  • The individual has already competed in Spartathlon and has reached the checkpoint "Nestani" (172 km) in less than 24 hours, 30 minutes.

Records

Yiannis Kouros, 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 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 Country Time (hours:minutes:seconds)
2013 João Oliveira  Portugal 23:29:08
2012 Stu Thoms  Germany 26:28:19[3]
2011 Ivan Cudin  Italy 22:57:40
2010 Ivan Cudin  Italy 23:03:06
2009 Ryoichi Sekiya  Japan 23:48:24
2008 Scott Jurek  United States 22:20:01
2007 Scott Jurek  United States 23:12:14
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 23:37:00
1996 Roland Vuillemenot  France 26:21:00
1995 James Zarei  United Kingdom 25:59:42
1994 James Zarei  United Kingdom 26:15:00
1993 Rune Larsson  Sweden 25:57:12
1992 Rusko Kantiev  Bulgaria 24:08:13
1991 János Bogár  Hungary 24:15:31
1990 Yiannis Kouros  Greece 20:29:00
1989 Patrick Macke  United Kingdom 24:32:00
1988 Rune Larsson  Sweden 24:42:00
1987 Rune Larsson  Sweden 24:41:00
1986 Yiannis Kouros  Greece 21:57:00
1985 Patrick Macke  United Kingdom 23:18:00
1984 Yiannis Kouros  Greece 20:25:00
1983 Yiannis Kouros  Greece 21:53:00

Women

Year Athlete Country Time
2013 Szilvia Lubics  Hungary 28:03:04
2012 Elizabeth Hawker  United Kingdom 27:02:17[3]
2011 Szilvia Lubics  Hungary 29:07:39
2010 Emily Gelder  United Kingdom 30:17:03
2009 Sumie Inagaki  Japan 27:39:49
2008 Sook-Hue Hur  South Korea 30:03:22
2007 Akiko Sakamoto  Japan 31:09:24
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)
Lorna Richey (later Lorna Michael) 		 United States
 United States 		34:15:10
1983 Eleanor Adams  United Kingdom 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. Joao Oliveira 23:29:08 POR 2013 1 36
15. Jan Lantink 23:31:22 HOL 2010 2 52
16. Kostas Reppos 23:37:00 GRE 1997 1 31
17. Dusan Mravlje 23:44:00 YUG 1985 2 32
18. Riochy Sekiya 23:47:54 JPN 2002 1 35
19. Riochy Sekiya 23:48:24 JPN 2009 1 42
20. Ohtaki Masayuki 24:01:10 JPN 2000 1 34
21. Rusko Kantief 24:08:13 BUL 1992 1 34
22. Ryoichi Sekiya 24:14:11 JPN 2006 2 39
23. János Bogár 24:15:31 HUN 1991 1 27
24. Jens Lukas 24:20:39 GER 2005 1 39
25. Piotr Kurylo 24:29:41 POL 2007 2 35
26. Lars Christoffers 24:31:45 DEN 2009 2 37
27. Patrik Macke 24:32:05 GBR 1989 1 34
28. Dusan Mravlje 24:39:22 YUG 1983 2 30
29. Dusan Mravlje 24:40:38 YUG 1984 2 31
30. Rune Larsson 24:41:46 SWE 1987 1 31
31. Jean-Dominique Calbera 24:42:00 FRA 1985 3 37
32. Rune Larsson 24:42:05 SWE 1988 1 32
33. Jens Lukas 24:46:51 GER 2001 2 35
34. János Bogár 24:49:19 HUN 1990 3 26
35. Marcus Thalmann 24:52:09 AUT 2008 2 44
36. Jan Prockaska 24:55:58 GER 2010 3 44
37. Jens Lukas 24:59:54 GER 2000 2 34
38. Jean-Jacques Moros 25:03:30 FRA 2005 2 35
39. Paul Beckers 25:05:48 BEL 1992 2 30
40. Jon Berge 25:09:38 NOR 2009 3 40
41. Kostas Reppos 25:11:41 GRE 1998 1 32
42. Markus Thalmann 25:16:56 AUT 2002 2 38
43. Masayuki Ohtaki 25:19:12 JPN 2006 3 40
44. Ryoichi Sekiya 25:27:30 JPN 2001 3 34
45. Rune Larsson 25:28:48 SWE 1989 2 33
46. Lars Skytte Christoffersen 25:29:41 DEN 2008 3 36
47. Reus Florian 25:29:54 GER 2013 2 29
48. Valmir Nunes 25:30:35 BRA 2003 2 39
49. Rune Larsson 25:32:55 SWE 1990 4 34
50. Akihiko Kumasaka 25:34:49 JAP 2001 4 33

[4]

References

  1. ↑ Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Chapter 6, paragraph 106
  2. ↑ Spartathlon 1983-2007, page 23, Published by the International Spartathlon Association, Athens, Greece
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Finishers". Spartathlon. Retrieved 17 October 2012. 
  4. ↑ Spartathlon 1983-2007, International Spartathlon Association, 7 Kodrou street, 10558, Athens, Greece

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