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Reports
Spartathlon
2oo6
Scott Jurek wins
Spartathlon 2006
First ever victory for the USA
The
outstanding young ultra-distance runner from the United States, Scott Jurek
ran away with the historic Spartathlon 2006 race.
Just before
sunrise on September 30, the 33-year-old Jurek completed the gruelling
246-kilometre run from Athens to Sparta in Greece in under 23 hours, (22
hours: 52 minutes: 11 seconds) some 82 minutes ahead of the second man to
reach the base of the statute honouring the famed Spartan King, Leonidas.
Jurek had
taken advantage of the mild dry weather to become the second fastest man to
run the course, though his time was the fifth fastest, with the four faster
times all belonging to the legend of ultra-distance running, the
Greek/Australian, Yiannis Kouros. Running with Jurek for much of the race
were Japanese runners, Ryoichi Sekiya and Masayuki Ohtaki, who ultimately
finished second and third in 24:14:11 and 25:19:12.
Japan's Sumie
Inagaki was first female home, arriving in 10th place overall in a time of
28:37:20. Compatriot Takako Furuyama was second female in 31:40:31, just
ahead of Mary Larsson-Hanudel, of the US with 31:41:56. It was the 15th
Spartathlon for the American, who has won the female race 4 times and whose
husband, Sweden's Rune Larsson has won the overall race 3 times and been in
the first three 5 times.
A record 292
athletes from 34 countries had entered the race, which this year was
exclusively sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Amid a great deal
of excitement some 246 athletes took the start at 7 am Friday, September 29,
under the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens, most of them with one goal, completing
the run to Sparta in the southeast Peloponnese within the time limit of 36
hours.
Twenty-five
women, and 34 Greeks, were among the starters and though the favourable dry
mild weather raised hopes only 97 runners would make the finish by sunset the
following day, the last 14 finishers with less than 10 minutes to spare.
Initially,
police supervision got the runners out of the early-morning Athens traffic
and by the time the pack was moving along the Sacred Way to Elefsis many of
the familiar names were at the front as they passed frustrated motorists.
As the day
wore on runners began to wear out. The good weather started taking its toll
as some of the athletes had been encouraged perhaps to go a little too fast
and as the race began to meander along country lanes between olive groves and
vineyards as the halfway mark was reached the number of dropouts began to
rise. Indeed, by dusk some 100 starters were no longer following in the
footsteps of the Athenian courier Pheidippides and still up ahead rose Mount
Partheniou, presenting some 1,200 metres to be climbed in the dead of night.
Indeed, from
the checkpoint in the village of Lyrkia, 148klms into the race the real work
starts. For the next 20 or so kilometres it is up hill nearly all the way.
Japan's Sekiya
was the first to reach the mountain base, at 159 klms, after being on the
road for 14 hours 28 minutes. He had not had time to check-in before Jurek
appeared out of the darkness, "we gave then the same time" said
base manager, Pam Leake. "They both looked very fresh and were making
very good time," said Leake, an artist, who was acting as a marshal in
her 21st Spartathlon.
Jurek may have
been second into the mountain base, but he made his intentions clear as he
was into his climb up the mountain track within minutes. Sekiya soon
followed, but by the time the rugged 2.5kms climb has been completed, the
American had opened a 10-minute lead and "was motoring" as he
reached the base checkpoint on the other side at Sangas, a village not far
from where Kouros was born, and in the land where the great runner spent
years training.
Third man to
leave his mark at Leake's base checkpoint was Ohtaki, some 34 minutes behind
the two leaders. Tall for an ultra distance runner, Ohtaki looked
exceptionally fresh as he joked with the people manning this base which
always attracts a good number of spectators who often
Unintentionally make it difficult for race marshals and the first aid team.
Among those on
hand at the mountain base was John Foden, a retired British RAF wing
commander who ran the course along with four colleagues during an expedition
to Greece in 1982. Their goal was to test Herodotus' description of the
efforts of the 'Athenian messenger' who started his run at dawn and finished
next day at dusk. "We followed the route we believed Pheidippides took
and that is the route now being run," said Foden. Indeed, the feat of
Foden and his team lead to the first international Spartathlon being
organised the following year with the participation of 45 runners from 11 countries,
the winner being Kouros.
Meanwhile, as
some of the 'smart money' went onto Ohtaki for overall first, female winner
Sumie Inagaki reached the bottom of the mountain in 14th place looking a
winner all the way.
In all, some
124 runners got through the mountain before the checkpoints were closed as
the sun came up on Saturday.
As the race
wore on, word was quickly coming back about the progress of Jurek who was on
his way to adding another title to those he has already won. Senior race
supervisor, George Clainos, responsible for runner briefing, the start and
the finish, realised while lounging at the mountain base that the finish was
going to be an early one.
Before leaving
for Sparta by car, Clainos expressed disappointment that so many runners were
retiring.
He felt the
same way later. "The weather is good, the conditions are unseasonably
dry, and hole the winning time was good I thought the times generally would
have been faster and more athletes would finish. But this often happens when
conditions are good," said Clainos as he watched runners come in during
the afternoon.
David Glass
In Sparta - Greece
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