THE SPARTATHLON

From Scott Jurek's Eat and Run:

    "The most famous long-distance race with a Greek origin is the marathon, which celebrates the arduous journey of the messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens, a distance of 26.2 miles, to announce Greece's victory over the Persians in 490 BC; he then dropped deat from exhaustion. Though Pheidippides is the messenger most often credited with noble and fatal trip, the runner was probably named Eucles, according to the ancient writer Plutarch.
   The real story of Pheidippides, according to those same historicans, is much better and has a happier ending. It also inspired the modern Spartathlon.
   The Persian fleet was on a roll. They had plundered their way through the Greek islands, sacked the city-state of Eritrea, and then had their sights set on Athens. The Athenians sent a small force, commanded by General Miltiades, to seal off the exits from the Bay of Marathon, named after the ancient Greek word for the fennel that probably grew wild there. The ancient historian Herodotus writes that the Athenian generals dispatched Pheidippides to the great city of Sparta to ask for reinforcements in holding off the much larger invading force.
   Pheidippides reached Sparta the day after he left Athens, but his plea fell on deaf ears. Although sympathetic to their fellow Greeks' plight, the religious Spartans were in the middle of a festival to Apollo and could not wage war until the full moon. It must have been a long 152.4 miles back home with the bad news, but luckily Pheidippides had something else to report.
   While running through the mountains above the ancient city of Tegea (checkpoint 60 of the modern Spartathlon), he had a vision of the nature god, Pan. The son of Hermes, the divine messenger, Pan ruled over shepherds, nymphs, and rustic places. He was a great guy to have on your side in a big battle, because he could induce a wild fear in mortals called "panic." This god called Pheidippides by name, "and bade him ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, though he was of goodwill to the Athenians, had often been of service oto them, and would be in the future."
   If we read it closely, everything we need to know about running is in Pheidippides' story. He ran over 300 miles- the first half in a little over one day - and he didn't even get what he wanted! If you run long enough, that tends to happen. Whatever quantitative measure of success you set out to achieve becomes either unattainable or meaningless. The reward of running - of anything - lies within us. As I sought bigger rewards and more victories in my sport, it was a lesson I learned over and over again. We focus on something external to motivate us, but we need to remember that it's the process of reaching for that prize - not the prize itself - that can bring us peace and joy. Life, as countless posters and bumper stickers rightly attest, is a journey, not a destination. Pheidippides kept going, and he ended up getting something even better, something outside the normal realm of human experience. Nature itself called out his name - Pan is nature incarnate - and it gave the great runner a sacred message to bring home to his people. The message was pretty much what nature's message always is: Pay more attention to me, and I will help you the way I've always helped you in the past.
   Pheidippides recounted his vision to the Athenian generals, who took it seriously and erected a new temple to Pan after the war. Unable to wait until the Spartans arrived, the Athenians charged the Persians. The Athenians fought with legendary courage, dividing and conquering the Persian force. Their underdog victory at Marathon is considered the tipping point in the Persian Wars, heralding the golden age of Greece.
   The Spartathlon, first run in 1983, was the brainchild of Wing Commander John Foden, a native Australian on the verge of retirement from the British Royal Air Force. Foden's forty-year military career included service in the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Brunei Revolt, and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, but he was also an avid amateur athlete and a student of the classics. One day, whle rereading Herodotus, he started wondering if Pheidippides' legendary run was somehting within a modern runner's power.
   John and four buddies from the RAF decided to make the attempt. In the words of the Irishman John McCarthy," We established a credible and historically correct route using ancient military roads, pilgrim ways, dry river beds and goat tracks, taking into consideration the ancient political alighments and enemy states to be skirted." The five runers set off from Athens on October 8, 1982, and the "three Johns" succeeded, arriving in Sparta in front of the statue of Leonidas on October 9: John Scholten in 35.5  hours, John Foeden in 36 hours, and John McCarhty in just under 40 hours.
   They decided to establish a yearly run that, in the Olympic vein, would offer no prize money or commercial gain but would instead promote a spirit of international cooperation and fellowship. Indeed, the Spartathlon is one of the best values in the world of ultra running. The entry fee of $525 gets you lodging and meals for six days as well as two of the best awards ceremonies you'll ever attend, museum tours, bus transportation, and ample food and water at the aid stations.
   In 1983, 4 runers from 11 countries competed. In 1984, the International Spartathlon Association was founded to manage the race.
   After he retired, Foden stayed active in the ultra community, promoting races all over the world. I found his booklet, "Preparing for & Competing in Your First Spartathlon," very helpful my first year. He continued to break age group records into his seventies, and in 2005 he was the oldes participan in the 300-km Haervejsvandring Walk from Schleswig in Germany to Viborg in North Denmark in seven days.

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