IF YOU have to be slightly mad to run the 42.2 kilometres of the Athens Classic Marathon, then logic suggests you have to be absolutely bonkers to take on the somewhat longer distance of 246ks that constitutes the Spartathlon.

And yet there is something remarkably sane about Scott Jurek, the 34-year-old from Minnesota, who is back in town and looking for a third successive victory in the race that claims to follow the footsteps of the runner Pheidipides when he ran from Athens to Sparta in 490BC in an unsuccessful bid to gather reinforcements for the fight against the Persians.

"If I could say in one word why we run these ultra-marathons. Well, I wish I could but I can't," he says.

"I think it is the immense challenge. Running ten kilometres could be a big challenge for someone, but when you run these ultra-marathons you really do some incredible soul-searching.

"It is like no other experience you will have as you have to go deeper into the soul and find out what one is made of."

The race has been going for a quarter of a century now since a Briton John Foden set out in 1982 to trace the original route according to the descriptions in Herodotus.

Now it is - along with the Marathon des Sables - arguably the most prestigious ultra-marathon in the world.

"It is very well known internationally," says Jurek. "It is very competitive and one of the toughest courses. The terrain, the heat and the history make it a bit special."

The fame means that this year's field, which sees an expected starting lineup of 333 athletes is the biggest ever.

Source : Athens News