In making final preparations for Spartathlon, which starts the morning after next, I took a look back at last year’s video of the race for inspiration. I also dug up the report I wrote for UltraRunning Magazine and took a look back at the photos taken by Glenn Tachiyama.

Spartathlon: A Journey of History, Culture, & Peace
by Scott Jurek (story reprinted here was originally published in UltraRunning Magazine)

Spartathlon History

Ancient Greece is a civilization known for the birthplace of modern democracy, epic battles, great warriors and leaders, learned philosophers and scientists, and legendary athletes. Great athletic feats occurred at the ancient Olympic Games, though it is the accomplishment of a messenger named Pheidippides that is celebrated every year by hundreds of athletes from around the world as they make their way on foot from the Acropolis in the heart of Athens to the statue of King Leonidas in Sparta. Historical records dating back to 490 BC by Herodotus state that Pheidippides was sent by the Athenians to carry a message to the Spartans, requesting their assistance in defending the city of Athens from invading Persian armies. Pheidippides set out at first light and covered the 246 kilometers from Athens to Sparta in a day and a half, arriving in Sparta by nightfall of the next day.

In 1982 a crazy and ambitious Brit by the name of John Foden, along with four other colleagues from the British Royal Air Force, traversed the route that Pheidippides covered (as described by Herodotus) to see if the 246 kilometers could indeed be covered in a day and a half. Foden and John Scholten completed the route in under 36 hours, proving that Pheidippides’ heroic journey was not a Greek myth (John McCarthy finished in under 40 hours). Thanks to Foden and his interest in ancient Greek history and long distance running, the Spartathlon became a formal event the following year.

The Modern Spartathlon

Every September since 1983, the ancient path from Athens to Sparta has been run by many great athletes. Perhaps as legendary as Pheidippides himself, the great Yannis Kouros burst onto the competitive ultramarathon scene in 1983 with a Spartathlon and ultramarathon debut in an astounding time of 21:53. Kouros went on to win the event three more times with a course record of 20:25 and posting world records on the road and track for almost all distances and durations beyond the 12 hour event.

Many renowned ultramarathoners from around the world have come to test their abilities against a course that covers 246 kilometers of paved roads (95%), improved dirt roads (4%), and a very small section of mountainous trail (1%). The road course is not devoid of hills, climbing a couple of mountain ranges to dole out over 8,000 feet of elevation gain. In addition to the sheer length of the course, runners are roasted under the potent Greek sun and coastal humidity. In the heat of the day, temperatures can reach 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit.

2006 Spartathlon

As part of my hiatus from Western States this year, I had decided to embark on some new journeys and incorporating a European race seemed to be a good fit. With Spartathlon’s history and annual competition, I decided to make it my European racing debut. In addition, training for Badwater (which I had decided to make as another goal race this season) was similar to the training that would be required by me for Spartathlon.

There is not much information about the Spartathlon available; however I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with a few runners from the States who have participated. They gave me helpful information and tips. I was also loaned a DVD from a past race that helped give me a strong visual of what the race conditions would be like. Additionally, John Foden produces a pamphlet, “Preparing for & Competing in Your First Spartathlon,” that I was able to obtain.

My wife, Leah, and I arrived in Greece a week and a half before the race to acclimate, see the course, and relax. Our first two days were spent recovering from jetlag on the beaches outside Athens, then we took the challenge to find the course by car. This may not seem like a difficult task, but the traffic, our inability to read Greek, and driving style of the Athenians were only the start of the fun. Armed with rudimentary descriptions of the course from the Spartathlon website, a list of aid station descriptions (such as: “191.5 km, small farm house and big tree”), distances between aid stations, Foden’s pamphlet, and very detailed roadmaps, we played a game that went something like a scavenger hunt. Aid stations are approximately every 5 km or sooner, so when we were certain we found one, we could guess which way to take to the next. If the distance between the two got us to the correct aid station description, we “knew” we succeeded. This was actually pretty fun and definitely helpful come race day, but tedious and involved a night’s sleep in the car (which we figured saved us the cash of staying awake in a hotel anyhow due to jetlag). On the second day we started noticing yellow arrows painted on the road as well as SP painted on roads and buildings, markers from previous years, and this helped us along greatly! It took us longer to follow the course by car than it took me to run it come race day. Note that on race day, the course is marked exceptionally well.

Runners arrive at race headquarters two or three days prior to the event. I call this an event because it is so much more than just a 246 km race. Your entry fee of 250 Euro covers your lodging and meals for five days, the race, two of the most incredible awards ceremonies I’m sure you will ever experience, museum tours, and bus transportation. It is not only possible, but many people arrive to Athens, bus to race headquarters in Glyfada, have their race experience without additional support, and go home without extra expenses. You are given days to make new friends and share experiences.

The 2006 Spartathlon attracted 292 runners from over 34 countries including a competitive list of accomplished runners, who all happen to be former Spartathlon champions. They included Valmir Nunes from Brazil (PR of 23:18), Sekiya Ryoichi from Japan (PR of 23:47), Ohtaki Masayaki from Japan (PR of 24:01), Markus Thalmann from Austria (PR of 23:28), Jens Lukes from Germany (PR of 24:26). Four of the men with the eight fastest times in race history would be toeing the start line September 29. I did not know this until the day before as no start list was available until race check-in, the 2006 Spartathlon was going to be a rich international field with some of the world’s best ultramarathoners.

With the pre-race briefing the previous afternoon starting “Greek style” (quite a bit late), I was preparing for a day with an attitude of “be prepared for anything.” But let me tell you, come race day, when they said the bus leaves at 6:00 AM and the race starts at 7:00 AM, they meant it.

Starting at the Acropolis at dawn made for a great beginning to the day. I expected the start to be fast and furious, but I ran out in front for the first crew point at 50 miles, while the others ran more conservatively. The start was downhill and exhilarating, with the sunrise over the historical sites of Athens. The race received support from police, who did best to hold back the zealous Athens rush hour traffic (a Friday morning). The leader is escorted by police, but the motorists didn’t necessarily feel inclined to follow the directions given to them as we headed down the six lane expressway with exhaust and speeding traffic. At one point, the expressway came to a grinding halt and I found myself running between the jammed cars. It’s nice to run in nature but good to see the very real product of our own civilization.

After leaving the expressway, the race continues along some smaller coastal highways, by a steel factory and oil refineries, and some cute little coastal villages. I ran from the start carrying what I would need with me until the first of ten crew points at 50 miles, planning only to refill my water bottle throughout the day when needed. Runners can leave drop bags for any of the 74 aid stations they choose. The only problem I heard about this was runners forgetting where they left what with so many stations and frequent aid! I chose to use only my crew, but did find a liking for their nectar juices later in the day.

Stations were packed with water, nectar juices, sodas, breads, yogurt, and a variety of other items– but no ice, which I’ve come accustomed to having. Leah was able to find a small store where the shopkeeper said she had ice, but when she went to get it, she moved the fresh cut meats off the packaged ice before handing it over. “Guess this will do!” exclaimed Leah after searching long and hard for the precious commodity. Of course, I didn’t find out until after the race (and the ice was in a bag that she swears she didn’t touch the outside of).

The remainder of the race runs between small rural villages. After running 90 km alone, I was caught by an Italian runner, Stefano Sartori and we jockeyed back and forth through the citrus groves and vineyards towards Ancient Nemea. After leaving Sartori on the climb at 113 km, I was by myself again, but it didn’t last long. Valmir Nunes of Brazil and Sekiya Ryoichi from Japan quickly surprised me on the hot rolling stretch into Ancient Nemea at 124 km. Sekiya pulled ahead of Valmir and I, looking strong while I was feeling the effects of a strong earlier pace in the heat of the day. It wasn’t until an hour out of Nemea and close to sundown that I started feeling better. The hilly dirt roads leading to Malandreni at 140 km were a welcomed change and I decided to make up some lost time on Sekiya who now had built a lead of over ten minutes. On the descent into the village, I was met by a group of children who were running and shouting at me in Greek. I tried to coax them into running all the way into town with me, but after five minutes they decided they had had enough.

Just before Lyrkia village at 148 km, I caught Sekiya and we exchanged the lead numerous times on the way to the trail section that leads to Sangas Pass. This is where I felt at home on the very technical trails and decided to make a move on the downhill into Sangas village at 164 km. I was told after the race by a village resident that Kouros was born near here and spent many years training in the mountains.

For the duration of the race, I ran alone except for the police escort and occasional village children. No pacers are allowed at Spartathlon and this gave me the opportunity for exploring running by myself in the late stages of a very long event. There was no word of runners from behind, so I ran against the clock and focused on a sub-23 hour finish. The downhill into Sparta is approximately 28 km of quad-busting pavement, but fortunately for me I did them in the cool morning hours whereas much of the field faced the added challenge of the heat here later in the day.

Crossing the Erotas River, I knew I had only a couple kilometers to go, and was met by several young men on bicycles who led me through downtown Sparta. A woman ran the last few hundred yards in front of me with the United States flag flowing behind as I made my way to the finish, the foot of the King Leonidas statue. All finishers must touch this famous statue before they are crowned with an olive wreath and drink water from the sacred Erotas River.

Just over 17 hours later, the last finishers came in, and the first awards ceremony (second two days later in Athens) began in the town square of Sparta. We heard this was a BIG deal, but were definitely surprised by the thousands of people that came to celebrate their history, honor the athletes, and share in the message of peace brought by the great athletes from their homelands to the Spartans. Many of the Greeks told me they were proud to have a runner from the US win this event. Historically, wars were halted for ancient games. We all celebrated with speeches, flag raisings, national anthems, fireworks, and live music.

Four other US runners competed in this year’s Spartathlon: Mark Godale (US 24 Hour Road record holder), Jim Rudig, Don Winkley, Mary Larsson-Hanudel. Typical of the low finisher rate of the event, of the 246 starters, 97 finished, creating a finisher rate of 39%. Approaching the 36 hour cutoff, the last 14 finishers created some excitement, finishing with less than 10 minutes to spare. Mary placed third female in a time of 31:41 and has won the female division four times. The other male runners need to go back for a finish in 2007 at the 25th annual event, the event that should be on the “must do” list of all ultramarathoners.