Spartathlon, Where the Noble Spirit of Athleticism Humbly Prevails · Global Voices
Elaine Rigas

A sign near the Spartathlon venue. Photo by Sarah Murray on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Οn 25th and 26th of September the small town of Sparta in Greece held its 33rd annual Spartathlon race, an ultramarathon where runners depart from the Acropolis hill in Athens and, taking a route that passes through Corinth, Nemea, Lyrkia, Mount Parthenio, Nestani and Tegea, eventually arrive in front of the statue of Leonidas in Sparta. Although this ultramarathon is less known than the Marathon Race, every year hundreds of athletes gather from every part of the world in order to participate and compete. This year, of the total of 387 runners who participated, 174 athletes managed to reach the finishing line.
The history that inspired the race
In 490 BC during the Battle of Marathon, an Athenian messenger named Pheidippides was sent to Sparta in order to seek help in a struggle against the Persians.
While still in the city, the generals first sent to Sparta the herald Pheidippides, an Athenian and a long-distance runner who made that his calling. […] This Pheidippides was in Sparta on the day after leaving the city of Athens, that time when he was sent by the generals…
Herodotus. Histories. Translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920
Monument in Sparta with names of Spartathlon winners. Image taken from Wikipedia.
The above passage in Herodotus‘ Histories made British Royal Air Force Wing Commander John Foden—a philhellene, a student of ancient Greek history, and a long-distance runner—wonder in surprise if in modern days a human could actually succeed in departing from Athens and reaching Sparta by running a distance of 246 kilometers in just two days.
In 1982, Foden arrived in Athens along with a team of four other RAF colleagues in order to officially recreate and run Pheidippides’ route as closely as possible to Herodotus’ historical description. On the 9th of October, 1982, after having run for 36 hours, John Foden and two of his colleagues reached the finishing point, the statue of Leonidas in Sparta, proving that a human could indeed cover such a distance in the allotted time period.
Foden's success led to the establishing of “The Spartathlon”, which has been described as the world's “most grueling race,” as the official site of the marathon explains:
[It] runs over rough tracks and muddy paths (often it rains during the race), crosses vineyards and olive groves, climbs steep hillsides and, most challenging of all, takes the runners on the 1,200 meter ascent and descent of Mount Parthenio in the dead of night. This is the mountain, covered with rocks and bushes, on which it is said Pheidippides met the god Pan. In 2,500 years man has had no impact at all. There is still no pathway over the mountain that is swept by strong winds with temperatures as low as 4°C.
#Greece – Statue of Pheidippides (Philippides) – Inspiration behind the 26-mile #Marathon and 153-mile #Spartathlon pic.twitter.com/G4UpBfLeTe
— John Trikeriotis (@spartanwarriors) May 27, 2015
The ideal of participation
The race is held on the last Friday of September at 7:00 am, since Herodotus in his narration places the event near that time of the year. The aim is to cover the course within the 36-hour limit, passing through 75 cut-off time checkpoints in total. Ultrarunners from Europe, America, Canada, Japan and Australia train for years to get fit enough to participate, but the marathon tests even the finest athletes’ limits.
Near the final stages, when extreme fatigue gets the best of them, the runners are often known to hallucinate and lose all sense of time and reality. Many describe it as “running on auto-pilot,” not having total control of their body. Only 1/3 of the participants on average actually finish the race. The video documentary below shows the exhaustion and commitment of the athletes running the Spartathlon:
But despite all the difficulties, long-distance runners from all over the world dream of participating in the marathon and train hard to meet the race's demands.
Questo è un mio SOGNO! Ma non so se mai riuscirò a tentare la sfida. ATENE – SPARTA: 246 km #running #SPARTATHLON pic.twitter.com/d99EE1abjS — Triatleta per Caso (@federicoloche) May 19, 2015
This is my dream! But I do not know if I will ever face the challenge. Athens—Sparta: 246 km
Dream place at #spartathlon secured. Still on cloud 9 :-) Total focus, total commitment – can't wait!
— Ian Thomas (@UltraIan) March 15, 2015
One day..Soon, inshallah #Spartathlon #246km pic.twitter.com/1aYSJNpgY4
— D (@dalsdas) June 19, 2015
Check! Finished my last hot yoga practice before #Spartathlon today. Training for heat and humidity in Iceland is challenging! — Stephen P. Bustos (@SPB007) September 18, 2015
Sunset in Athens. One more sleep! #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/RPmZnUWW2v — Thomas Bubendorfer (@tfbubendorfer) September 24, 2015
Becoming legends
Yannis Kouros, the winner of the first Spartathlon in 1983, who participated four times in total and won first place every time, holds the marathon's time record till this day (20:25:00, 20 hours and 25 minutes) and is featured in the short film “Forever Running.”
When asked how he achieved the impossible, Kouros answered:
When other people get tired, they stop. I DON'T. I take over my body with my mind. I tell it that it's not tired and it listens.
The Spartathlon winner for 2015 was Florian Reus from Germany, last year's and 2013's runner-up.
Leader of the Race Florian Reus – Germany #Spartathlon pic.twitter.com/tEcMbI7M40
— Radsport (@radsportnews) September 25, 2015
Finishing in fourth place, Katalin Nagy from the United Kingdom set a new women's record.
What a performance! Katalyn Nagy sets a new women record in 25.07.13 4th overall ! #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/LnemVXzaDi
— Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
Thirty Greek athletes reached the finishing point of the 2015 Spartathlon, with Nikolaos Petropoulos being the first to touch the statue of Leonidas.
2 times winner in our race Nikos Petropoilos just finished the #spartathlon as 1rst Greek athlete #12 overall pic.twitter.com/hUcWPMluW0
— Rout 100 Miles (@Rout100miles) September 26, 2015
Dimitris Koutios shows us his human side as he finishes at 34:30. He is now a Spartathlete! #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/dsVMk71wND
— Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
Among the finishers were the two Spartan participants, Giannis Dimopoulos and Christos Masouras, making their hometown particularly proud of their achievement.
Giannis Dimopoulos on the road to his personal victory. Image from his Facebook page.
Masouras the Spartan and Spiros Pappas together in 35.10 #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/K47shEyLCs
— Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
Ultrarunners, their relatives, and friends shared their joy and experience on Twitter, sending the profound message that this race is about friendship and peace as well, where religious, racial or any other type of discrimination has no place:
5.10am and we start the return to Athens pic.twitter.com/vjxEP83jjT
— Mimi (@Marvellousmimi) September 27, 2015
A running superstar! @UltraRunDMC finishing @SPARTATHLO #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/3ACYpbtzoV
— Antonia Johnson (@PetiteFeetRun) September 26, 2015
The British squad ready for #spartathlon @SpartathletesUK pic.twitter.com/w7fmDAsQ5M — Debbie MartinConsani (@UltraRunDMC) September 24, 2015
Janne Klasila 8th pos in #spartathlon sets a new Finnish record in 26.23 pic.twitter.com/Z4V1i355Gm — Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
Huge congratulations to Dan and the Lawson family for their race and perseverance. True Spartathletes #spartathlon pic.twitter.com/KVjzCzsL0c
— Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
Awesome run by Henrik Westerlin at #Spartathlon in Greece – 6th with 26:19 for 153 miles. That's race is tough as hell. #SharmanUltra
— Ian Sharman (@sharmanian) September 27, 2015
Kept the best one for the end, one of the most beautiful and romantic moments:
A first for the books!!!! He proposed after finishing the #spartathlon This wedding will last forever! pic.twitter.com/9pVwu3pbyA
— Advendure (@Advendure_Net) September 26, 2015
During Spartathlon, each athlete confronts his own strength and limits, a personal experience in which, even upon fulfillment, words fail to describe the grandeur of all the emotions. There is no cash prize in the race. All runners are aware of this, and yet run for the ultimate prize of glory and the satisfaction of making it till the end. They win a humble olive crown, as well as applause of appreciation and respect from the Spartans as they become Pheidippides’ successors. Spartathlon is a supreme physical and spiritual struggle, a struggle of pure values, as imposed and inspired by the ancient spirit of noble competition and respect towards the goal and one's fellow athletes.