From: Rob_Byrne@peoplesoft.com Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 22:16:16 -0700 Subject: Spartathlon Spartathlon, In the Footsteps of Pheidippides Athens, Greece September 26-27, 1997 Mostly paved roads, some dirt, 5K mountain climbing In 490 BC Athenian generals dispatched a messenger to deliver a plea for help and reinforcements from neighboring Sparta. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the messenger Pheidippides departed Athens and arrived in Sparta "the following day", covering a distance of 246 kilometers (152 miles). This account by Herodotus constitutes the first recorded ultramarathon event. 2,487 years later, the tradition continues... This year saw the fifteenth modern running of Pheidippides historic route, now known as Spartathlon The event begins atop the Acropolis in Athens and is completed when runners touch the statue of King Leonidas that stands in the stadium of Sparta. The Spartathlon does not offer prize money, nor are there valuable prizes for the top finishers. After finishing, each runner is crowned with an olive wreath and presented with a drink of water from the River Evrotas. The goal for most runners is simply to complete the course within the allotted 36 hour limit. There are no pacers allowed and access by support crews is limited by the rules. Wednesday, September 24. Race registration. You don't normally read about race registration in an UltraRunning article, but race registration does not normally consist of athletes from twenty-six nations massed around a table in a hotel stairwell all attempting to complete registration, pay fees, document supporters and crews, and complete medical examinations. In addition to race logistics, add in the fact that race management arranges five days of accommodations and meals for all athletes and supporters and you can begin to appreciate what you're dealing with. Toss in the detail that the transactions are completed in cash (of whatever currency is at hand) and communicated in either Greek or English (not necessarily the native tongue of those involved) and the picture comes into focus. Running Spartathlon will be easy, it is successful navigation of the registration process that stands as the true testament of human tenacity and endurance. Thursday, September 25. Drop bags are assembled and turned in. There are seventy-four checkpoints along the course and runners have the option of stashing supplies at any checkpoint of their choosing. Evening brings the pre-race meeting that is held around the pool at the athletes hotel. Seated outside, we gather closely to hear the speaker over the din of the airplanes overhead - we're directly in the flight path of the Athens airport. The instructions are spoken (shouted) once in Greek, and then repeated (shouted again) in English. The Japanese runners have brought a translator who provides the details for the largest single foreign contingent. Runners from many other nations huddle and piece together what they have each understood. Fortunately there is little news that differs from the printed race packets. The most important details have to do with cutoff times. Each race checkpoint has a cutoff time associated with it, and all runners must exit the checkpoint by that time or be eliminated. Friday, September 26. We pile on our busses promptly at 6am and make our way into Athens to the Acropolis. Upon arrival at the summit we are quickly outnumbered by photographers, camera crews, supporters, and officials. There are television crews from several nations and reporters from many others. Runners everywhere are being photographed or speaking with interviewers. Those not so occupied are doing what runners do normally before the start of an event - searching for a place to pee. Since we have overrun the standard facilities, the ancient walls and surrounding olive grove provide the requisite venue du urination. The multilingual bantering from the shadows echo with the tone of "Do you think Socrates went here?". 7am arrives and the gun goes off. We run down the worn marble pathways of the Acropolis and onto the streets of Athens. One hundred and thirty of us begin the journey and enjoy a police escort as we weave our way through the smoggy Athenian rush hour and head west through the outskirts of the city. The weather has given us a break and the temperatures are relatively mild. We follow the old road to Corinth which follows the contours above the coast. The roads are lightly traveled and with little exception each car that passes salutes with a touch on the horn, a raised fist, and an enthusiastic "Bravo! Bravo!". Likewise, the citizens of every small town are on hand to cheer us along. As we pass schools, the entire classes line the sidewalks, cheering, and holding out their hands for "high fives". At 48 miles the course crosses the Corinth Canal and enters the Peloponnese. At 50 miles I hit the first major checkpoint at Corinth. My official support crew (and spouse), Chris, meets me there in our rental car which is now festooned with official race signs and credentials. Printed in Greek, Chris isn't sure what the signs on the car say, but she gets plenty of respect from passing cars. Word at the checkpoint has it that the leader, a Greek named Constantinos Repos is blazing ahead but that surely he can't maintain his torrid pace. Everybody seems pleased that a Greek runner is in the lead. Leaving Corinth, the towns become progressively smaller and more remote. I pass ancient ruins and wend my way though vineyards, and olive and apricot groves. The villages pass quickly and begin to blur: Examilia, Assos, Soulinari, Halkion, Ancient Nemea, Malandreni... the constant feature of this section are the warm and friendly greetings at each village. The local taberna is usually decorated for the occasion and everyone in town is out and enjoying the spectacle. Children ride their bicycles alongside and pose what is to become the eternal question, "Where are you from?". It's well into evening when I meet up with Chris again at the village of Lyrkia (92 miles). I pick up a couple of flashlights and take my Tyvek jacket and an extra pair of socks. All of these prove to be key acquisitions. Heading into the night, now on dirt roads, I head for The Mountain. It is during this segment of the run where the course leaves roads and trails for an ascent over the steep rock slope of the 1,200 meter Sangas Pass over Mount Parthenio. Standing at the base and looking up, the guiding beacons blend with the bright evening stars. It is difficult to determine where the trail ends and the heavens begin. It doesn't get any better once the climbing begins. Legend has is that Pheidippides met the god Pan when he traversed the pass, at the moment this seems to be a perfectly reasonable expectation. Saturday, September 27. Long after midnight I descend the far side of the pass and make my way into Nestani. My quads are pretty well shot and I'm very cold. I have long ago donned my jacket and am wearing the extra socks on my hands for warmth. Regardless of the ache in my quads, it's warmer to keep shuffling - it also helps to keep me awake. Somewhere in the early morning darkness, Helga Backhaus, the eventual women's winner, glides silently past me along with an entourage or four or five other runners. I'm inspired to keep up, and I stay with them until dawn breaks and my alertness returns with the sunlight. I enter the village of Tegea around 7am, it's been exactly 24 hours since we started and I have 31 miles to go. Shuffle, jog, walk. Shuffle, jog, walk. The miles and hours pass by. Occasionally I overtake a runner that shuffles slower than I, occasionally it is the reverse. We're on the main road to Sparta now and it's heavily traveled. The drivers are still beeping and cheering "Bravo! Bravo!", I smile and wave in reply. Not much farther now. It's all down hill now along the main (only) road to Sparta. This would normally be great, but at this point my quads are gone and walking is faster than running. I pass through Alepohori, Voutiani, Kladas, and finally across the river Evrotas into Sparta. A police car pulls up behind to escort me to the finish. As I enter the town, two Spartan boys carrying olive branches jog aside me to the city square. I am suddenly very emotional, it is difficult maintain my composure and keep going. I see the statue ahead and tell the boys "let's go". I shuffle, and then jog. I'm up the steps in front of the stadium and reach for the statue. Finished. Epilogue. Immediately after finishing, runners are transported via ambulance to the local hospital for a checkup. After that, it's party time. On the evening of the finish there is a ceremony in the Spartan city square. Seemingly thousands from the town and surrounding area attend. The square is filled and people find vantage points from overlooking balconies and rooftops. The ceremony is conducted in Greek and English and each of the seventy-six finishers are individually acknowledged. Following that, the top three finishers for each category are introduced. Constantinos Repos, the Greek runner who had "gone out too fast" finished first with a blazing 23:37. He was followed by Kenji Okiyama of Japan (25:55), and three time Spartathlon winner Rune Larsson of Sweden (28:11). In the women's division, Helga Backhaus of Germany made it four in a row with a winning time of 30:39. She was followed by Kime Funada of Japan (33:36), and teammate Heike Pawzik (33:46) of Germany. The ceremony ended with a fireworks display and Sparta began what could be the social event of the season. Along with most of the other runners, I chose to shuffle slowly back to my room and to bed. The evening ceremony is not the last of the post race festivities. On the following afternoon we were hosted by the mayor of Sparta at a luncheon, and after returning to Athens the following day we were honored with a formal banquet. The most memorable feature of these events proved to be the marathon of formal speeches presented by race officials, foreign dignitaries, and various municipal officials - and the pleasure of hearing them all repeated in at least two (and often three) translated versions. Against this background, wine was poured, the stories flowed, and new friendships were cemented. At the last of the post-race banquets I was asked by one of our hosts whether I would return and run the Spartathlon again. I looked at Chris and felt my swollen feet. "No, once is a enough", I replied. My inquisitor looked me knowingly in the eye and smiled. "You'll be back" she said, and turned to Chris "they always come back". 1. Constantinos Repos,31,GRE 23:37 2. Kenji Okiyama,32,JPN 25:55 3. Rune Larsson,41,SWE 28:11 4. Imre Iles,YUG 28:12 5. Markus Thalmann,33,AUT 28:19 Michael Wanivenhaus,38,AUT 28:19 7. Jens Lukas,31,GER 28:49 8. Bjorn Eric Jungnelius,50,SWE 28:51 Jose Miguel Arrambide,48,ESP 28:51 10. Walther Raab,52,GER 29:35 11. Karl Hubert,39,GER 29:44 12. Andre Cruells,43,FRA 30:29 August Lespinas,51,FRA 30:29 14. Helga Backhaus,44,GER 30:39 15. Kjell-Ove Skoglund,56,SWE 30:40 16. Jun Onoki,42,JPN 30:53 17. Ari Mustala,43,FIN 30:56 18. Sepo Tapio Leinonen,45,FIN 31:09 19. Pismenko Wojciech,34,POL 31:32 20. Jacques Martin,44,FRA 31:34 21. Tadeusz Spychalsky,37,POL 31:38 22. Kazuyoshi Ikeda,32,JPN 31:48 23. Rob Byrne,39,USA 31:56 24. Mirosla Lasota,POL 32:10 25. Akira Takasa,49,JPN 32:39 26 . Mario Castagnoli,52,ITA 32:43 Helmut Urbach,55,GER 32:43 28. Roberto Bordini,49,ITA 32:49 29. Antoine Pierson,47,FRA 32:52 30. Philippe Dieumegard,41,FRA 33:05 31. Rolan Roux,51,FRA 33:13 32. Max Courtillon,70,FRA 33:21 33. Jean-jacques Merienne,44,FRA 33:24 34. Kime Funada,45,JPN 33:36 35. Ludvic Antal,37,HUN 33:39 Robert Membre,52,FRA 33:39 37. Wilson Dammekens,45,BEL 33:43 38. Shgemi Hazama,48,JPN 33:46 Heike Pawzik,34,GER 33:46 40. Anatoli Zybikov,58,LAT 33:50 41. Luc Dumont St.Priest,33,FRA 34:01 42 . Gerard Fabrier,40,FRA 34:09 43. Mitsuo Araya,48,JPN 34:13 44. Hubert Gautron,49,FRA 34:34 45. Katsuhiro Tanaka,26,JPN 34:36 46. Tamas Toth-Urban,33,HUN 34:41 47. Kawamura Kazuhiro,32,JPN 34:43 48. Kazuyuki Yamashita,38,JPN 34:51 49. Marios Fournares,30,GRE 34:54 50. Peter Leslie Foxhall,45,GBR 34:54 Gustav Diers,50,GER 34:54 Panaiotis Kotronaros,27,GRE 34:54 Dimitris Kechagioglou,GRE 34:54 54. Paul Every,AUS 34:57 55. Yoshio Nishimura,50,JPN 35:02 56. Dirk Stegen,GER 35:07 57. Naoyuki Imamoto,33,JPN 35:17 58. Jan Brawens,43,BEL 35:20 59. Paulette Fevre,47,FRA 35:23 60. Steven Benjamin,43,USA 35:27 61. Thierry Foucaud,43,FRA 35:28 62. Robert Meadowcroft,60,GBR 35:37 Mark Williams,32,GBR M 35:37 64. Nobuhiro Doushita,60,JPN 35:38 65. Raymond McConnell,47,IRL 35:41 66. Kazushi Ohkanda,25,JPN 35:42 67. Masataka Okazaki,52,JPN 35:49 68. Koichi Okubo,53,JPN 35:50 Miyako Yoshikoshi,48,JPN 35:50 Osamu Yoshikoshi,52,JPN 35:50 71. Akihiro Sago,58,JPN 35:51 72. Peter Bartel,55,GER 35:53 73. Christophe Rochotte,35,FRA 35:53 74. Fransois Weber,49,FRA 35:53 75. Hiroko Okiyama,35,JPN 35:54 76. Zaprin Bageov Pepelov,23,BUL 35:55 130 Starters