Spartathlon race guide

How to get a place

These were the terms for 2026; check spartathlon.gr for 2027. Applications were open online from 25 January to 25 February, with a qualifying result from the previous two years or so. The result must come from an official non-stop race with at least five finishers.

If more than 400 runners qualify, some get in automatically: anyone who beat a standard by at least 25%, the previous year's first man and woman, runners with 10 or more finishes, and the only applicant from a country. The rest are drawn by lottery, with caps of 40 for Japan, 30 for Germany, 50 for Greece and 25 for other countries. Applicants who missed out the year before get a double entry in the draw.

International runners must buy the €1,250 package, which covers hotels, meals and transport in Athens and Sparta, the awards ceremony and insurance. You get 50% back if you withdraw for a serious reason by 20 June and 30% by 31 July, then nothing. You also need a medical certificate saying you are fit to run the race.

• How race entry systems work

The course

The race starts at 7 a.m. below the Acropolis and follows the Sacred Way west out of Athens, past refineries and factories to Elefsina. It then runs along the old coast road through Megara and Kineta to the Corinth Canal at about 78 km. Runners run facing the traffic.

In the Peloponnese the route passes Ancient Corinth and climbs gently through farmland to Ancient Nemea, then on rough roads to Lyrkeia. From there it climbs steeply to Mountain Base, where a steep path marked with flashing lights crosses the Sangas pass over Mount Parthenio in the middle of the night. After Nestani and Tegea comes a long climb, then the last 28 km run mostly downhill into the Evrotas valley and Sparta, often in the heat of the second afternoon.

Checkpoints and cutoffs

Every one of the 75 checkpoints has a closing time, and if you arrive after it you are out. The early ones are the tightest: you have nine and a half hours to reach the Isthmia checkpoint just past the Corinth Canal, so you cannot afford a slow start. Checkpoints serve water, soft drinks, fruit, bread, biscuits and sweets, and later ones add soup and tea.

• Plan your splits in the pace planner
• Understand ultra cutoffs

Main checkpoints from the 2026 road book, with closing times for the 7 a.m. Saturday start and the elapsed time in brackets. There are 75 checkpoints in all, about every 3.5 km. Crews could help only at the 16 marked here. Drop bags could also go to several other checkpoints. Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Crew and race rules

• In 2026 crews could help only at 16 checkpoints, from CP12 at 43.9 km. Help anywhere else means elimination.
• Crews may not drive alongside you or run with you, and pacing is not allowed.
• A yellow card is a warning, even when your crew broke the rule. Two yellow cards mean disqualification.
• You must carry a head torch with spare batteries and show rear lights or reflectors at night.
• Trekking poles, headphones and music players are banned.
• If you drop out, you sign a form, hand in your bib and chip, and a race car takes you to Sparta.

• Crew and drop bags

Records and results

Yiannis Kouros won the first race in 1983 and set a record of 20:25:00 in 1984 that stood for 39 years, until Fotis Zisimopoulos ran 19:55:09 in 2023. In 2026 Tamás Bódis lowered it again to 19:40:51. Camille Herron set the women's record of 22:35:31 in 2023, finishing third overall. Despoina Simantrakou won the women's race in 2026.

Finish rates vary widely with the weather. Since 2011, about 59% of starters have finished.

• Official results archive

Course records

Kouros won four times, in 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1990.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

History

In 1982 RAF Wing Commander John Foden and fellow officers set out to test Herodotus's account that Pheidippides reached Sparta the day after leaving Athens. Foden reached the statue of Leonidas in 36 hours, and two others also finished. The first race followed in 1983, and the International Spartathlon Association, a non-profit run by volunteers, has organised it each September since 1984. The 2020 race was cancelled because of COVID-19. Since 2023 the race has started on a Saturday rather than a Friday.

The welcome along the way

About 600 volunteers run the race with the towns along the route, the Scouts of Greece and the Greek Guiding Association. Villagers come out to cheer, and Lyrkeia is lively with supporters in the middle of the night. In Sparta, schoolchildren run the last stretch with finishers, who receive an olive wreath and water from the Evrotas river at the statue. There is no prize money.

Getting there

In 2026 the race base was a hotel in Glyfada, on the coast south of Athens, with buses to the start on race morning. The international package covers four nights in Athens and two in Sparta, with transport back to Athens. Live results, GPS tracking and an app let friends follow the race.

Questions people ask