2 September

The Day Athens's greatest runner, Pheidippides run 245 km and Spartathlon was born

Before the Athenian army marched quickly to block the two exits from the plain of Marathon, and prevent the Persians moving inland Pheidippides had been sent to Sparta to request that the Spartan army march to the aid of Athens. Pheidippides arrived the next day, during the festival of Carneia, a sacrosanct period of peace, and was informed that the Spartan army could not march to war until the full moon rose; Athens could not expect reinforcement for at least ten days

.Based on this account, British RAF Wing Commander John Foden MBE and four other RAF officers travelled to Greece in 1982 on an official expedition to test whether it was possible to cover the nearly 250 kilometres in a day and a half. Three runners were successful in completing the distance: John Foden (37:37), John Scholtens (34:30) and John McCarthy in (39:00). The following year a team of enthusiastic supporters (British, Greek and other nationalities) based at the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Athens and led by Philhellene Michael Callaghan organised the running of the first Open International Spartathlon Race. The Spartathlon aims to trace the footsteps of Pheidippides, the Athenian messenger sent to Sparta on 2 September 490 BC to seek help against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon.

winner's medal

Yiannis Kouros, who won the first Spartathlon, still holds the record time at 20:25:00. Kouros competed in four Spartathlons, won all four and holds the four fastest times ever recorded. In 2005, he decided to trace the steps of Pheidippides completely and ran—out of competition—the Athens–Sparta–Athens distance.

Yiannis Kouros (born February 13, 1956 in Tripoli, Greece) is a Greek ultramarathonrunner based in Melbourne. He is sometimes called the "Running God" or "Pheidippides' Successor". Kouros came to prominence when he won the Spartathlon in 1984 in record time and the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1985 in a record time of 5 days, 5 hours, 7 minutes and 6 seconds. Kouros says that his secret is that "when other people get tired, they stop. I don't. I take over my body with my mind. I tell it that it's not tired and it listens."

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