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SPARTATHLON

INTERNATIONAL Historic ULTRAMARATHON

ATHENS - SPARTA

26-27 SEPTEMBER 2008







SPARTATHLON is a historic ultra-distance foot race that takes place in
September of every year in Greece. Two and a half thousand years after
that historical battle, a sports event, inseparably related to it, was
born in Greece



It is one of the most difficult and satisfying ultra distance races in
the world because of its unique history and background.



The battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. , one of the most famous battles in
world history, constituted a landmark and a starting point in the
history of civilization. The triumph of the genius of Miltiades and
the self-denial of his soldiers made the hordes of Persians flee and
rescued Athens and Hellenism from the utmost danger of subjugation to
the barbarian invaders. The effects of the victory at Marathon
continue to influence the present. It was the first victory against
the planned domination of "Asianization" over Europe and an event with
momentous significance. Because of this victory, Athens was able to
achieve a great deal and bequeath the benefits of its knowledge, arts
and virtue to mankind.



It all started from Herodotus' account of the Battle of Marathon.

The great historian of antiquity described the details of the battle
many years later and mentioned the deeds of Pheidippides, an Athenian
IMERODROMOS (messenger), sent by his generals to Sparta in order to
secure help for the reinforcement of the scanty Athenian forces
against the forthcoming Asiatic incursion. According to Herodotus,
Pheidippides arrived in Sparta "on the next day of his departure" from
Athens!



For twenty four consecutive years, the Spartathlon athletes have
followed the route John Foden and his team defined in 1982 when they
experimented in running from Athens to Sparta. It is based on
Herodotus’ description of the Athenian ‘Imerodromos’ or messenger who
arrived in Sparta the day after he departed from Athens and also on
well known historical events of that time. It has, therefore, been
considered the nearest route to that which Pheidippides must have
followed.

Briefly, Miltiades’ imerodromos ( messenger ) started out of Athens on
the ancient Iera Odos, or “sacred road,” up to Elefsis. From there he
followed Skyronia Odos, a military road on the slopes of the Gerania
mountains, and traveled through Isthmia, Examilia and Ancient Corinth.
He went on to Ancient Nemea, thus avoiding the Epicratea of Argos, as
it wasn’t in alliance with Athens, and he continued along the
mountains between Argolida and Arcadia. He climbed the Parthenio
mountain (1200 meters), where he encountered the God Pan. Descending
the mountain, he continued in the direction of historical Tegea, one
of the locations mentioned by Herodotus in his account about
Pheidippides. He proceeded south toward Sparta. Upon his arrival in
Sparta, he completed 1140 “stadia,” which equaled 246 kilometers.



LINK



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