Scott Jurek Wins His Third Spartathlon
September 27, 2008 ·
Written by trailrunningSoul.com ·
Filed Under Races & Events
… athletes follow 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 “˜Imerodromou’ 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.
The Spartathlon course is conducted point-to-point, the elevation ranges from sea level to 1,200 meters (3,937 ft), over tarmac road, trail and mountain footpath. Aid stations are placed every 3 to 5 km and are provisioned with food, water and other refreshments as well as the runners’ personal supplies. The race is run under police and medical supervision with doctors, physiotherapists, and emergency vehicles being on call throughout the 36-hour race duration. The race is very demanding, not only because of the distance, but also for the cut-off requirements and weather conditions.
The race had 153 retired out of a total of 307 participants with Austrian Markus Thalmann finishing second in 24:52:09 and Danish Lars Skytte Christoffersen 3rd in 25:29:41. The winner of the women’s division was Sook-Hoe Hur, from Korea, 16th overall with a time of 30:03:22.
The race had a live results page and also a curious all-time statistics page, where you can check out details like runners with more than five participation and no finishes or Yannis Kouros’ victories and top best four race times.
Top 3 Finishers
Men
1. Scott Jurek 22:20:01
2. Markus Thallman 24:52:09
3. Lars Skytte Christoffersen 25:29:41
Women
1. Sook-Hoe Hur 30:03:22
2. Stacey Bunton 31:25:59
3. Marika Heilein 31:39:19
