The impressive statue of King Leonidas I loomed in the distance. Each step he took, it grew larger and larger. For 56-year-old John Foden, it meant a lot. All the efforts he took for the past 4 years came in handy. When he reached the statue of the legendary Greek king, he stooped down and kissed his feet. At last, he has proven it can be done. A sense of pride and achievement washed over him as he slowly moved to receive some medical help.
What John Foden and 2 other RAF officers achieved was no small feat. They successfully retraced a legendary Greek hero’s running journey from Athens to Sparta. During the Battle of Marathon, Pheidippides was sent to Sparta to ask for assistance to defeat the invading Persians. The messenger crossed 246 Kilometres in 36 hours to reach Sparta. They failed to offer any instant help, so the messenger ran back to Athens to convey the message.
Born in Australia, John Foden had a strong interest in ancient Greece and its history. When he read about Pheidippides’ legendary run from the accounts about the Persian war by Herodotus’, he was fascinated. As an ultradistance runner, he wondered whether a modern man could undertake the iconic run of Pheidippides. From 1978, he set on acquiring sponsors and preparing to take the challenge head-on.
Four years later, on that historic day in 1982, John Foden entered the city of Sparta and finished the race on the foot of the statue of Leonidas I, who died fighting the Persians during the Battle of Thermopylae. He made history by completing the Athens to Sparta run. Yet, he was not the first to complete the race. Though he finished the race in 37 hours and 37 minutes, his fellow officer John Scholtens finished it in 34 hours 30 minutes. Overall, 3 out of 5 officers who attempted the run ended up finishing it.
That’s how a famous event in ultradistance running was born. As the run ends in the modern town on the site of Ancient Sparta, it was named the Spartathlon. From 1983, the event is held annually to retrace the journey of Pheidippides. But unlike the poor messenger, the athletes are not required to run back to Athens. The first Spartathlon was held the year after John Foden finished the 246-kilometre race, which is 6 continuous Marathons. Yiannis Kouros from Greece finished the race in 21:53:42 to win the first-ever Spartathlon.
Winners of the Spartathlon receive a laurel wreath and water from local schoolgirls. The national anthem of the winner’s country is played to mark the achievement. The winners do not receive any financial help because the original inspiration behind the event, Pheidippides, did not receive any financial gains after completing the run.
The Spartathlon is always held in late September. The race begins near the Acropolis of Athens, at 7.00 am. Runners have 36 hours to finish the race. They have to deal with the Greek heat during the day and cold weather during the night. They also have to deal with various landscapes from roads to mountainous pathways.
Runners pass through many beautiful Greek villages and historic sites. They also have to ascend the 1,200 metres high Sangas mountain pass on Mount Parthenion and descend towards the settlement of Tegea, which is about 200 kilometres from the start of the race. To finish the race, the runners have to run downhill for another 50 kilometres to reach Sparta.
Although finishing the Spartathlon does not bring the athletes any financial gains, it is considered to be prestigious. Local hero Yiannis Kouros is the fastest to finish the race when he reached the modern city of Sparti in 20 hours and 25 minutes during the 2nd Spartathlon. He participated in 4 Spartathlons (1983, 1984, 1986 and 1990,) being victorious in all of them.
Eleanor Robinson was the first woman to finish the 153-mile race when she crossed the line in 32:37:52 during the first Spartathlon. Mary Larsson, an impressive legend of the female long-distance running have won it 4 times and finished all her 12 races. Patrycja Bereznowska from Poland is the fastest woman to finish the race when she did it in 2017 with the timing of 24 hours, 48 minutes and 18 seconds.
Since the race requires extreme endurance, the organizing committee has set a few basic qualifications. In order to take part in the Spartathlon, athletes are required to finish at least a race of 100 kilometres under 10 hours for men, 10.30 hours for women.
The 38th Spartathlon was held on 25 September this year. Over 300 men and women from more than 50 countries took part in the race. Among men, Fotis Zisimopoulos from Greece finished the run in 21:57:36. Diana Dzaviza from Latvia finished the race in 25:24:25 to become the fastest woman this year.
Curiosity and endurance have been the traits that have kept our species alive and thriving for these many years. Stretching the boundaries of limitations have brought new inventions and made people to undertake breath-taking feats. If King Leonidas I was watching John Foden coming towards him on the hot day in 1982, he would have been proud. After all, he died while trying to do something that was thought to be impossible.
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