Runners start · local time — 245 km: Saturday 07:00 start (2026 edition)
Spartathlon began in 1982, when British Royal Air Force officer John Foden and his companions followed the account of Herodotus and tried running from Athens to Sparta within 36 hours.
The following year, 1983, the first international race was held with 45 runners from 11 countries,
and since the International Spartathlon Association was founded in 1984, the race has taken place every year at the end of September.
The course is a one-way point-to-point route, and the distance according to the 2026 roadbook is 244.74 km.
The start is at 7 a.m. on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street below the Acropolis, and the route passes Elefsina,
Megara (42.2 km) and the Corinth Canal (about 78 km) before entering the Peloponnese.
After Ancient Corinth and Nemea (122.7 km), runners must cross the Mount Parthenio pass at about 1,100–1,200 m above sea level in the middle of the night;
the climb from Lyrkia toward the summit, gaining roughly 960 m over 13 km, is the crux of the race.
From there the route goes through Nestani and Tegea (193.9 km), crosses one last climb and descends into the Evrotas valley to reach Sparta.
Each of the 75 checkpoints has a cut-off time, and missing even one means immediate elimination;
the overall time limit is 36 hours.
In the 2026 race, 323 runners started and 279 finished;
the men's winner was Tamás Bódis of Hungary (19:40:51) and the women's winner was Despoina Simantrakou of Greece (24:45:43).
The race ends when runners touch the foot of the Leonidas statue, and finishers receive an olive wreath and a cup of water from the Evrotas River.
