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News25 Sep 1999


German wins Spartathlon ultra-marathon

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German wins roundtheclock race tracing ancient route
Theodora Tongas for Associated Press
25 September 1999 -Sparta, Greece - Women in ancient Greek costume and hundreds of local residents turned out Saturday to greet Germany's Jens Lukas, the surprise winner of a grueling round-the-clock ultramarathon from Athens to this southern city.

Lukas, surrounded by young children on bicycles and cheered by the crowd, finished the 246-km course in 25 hours, 38 minutes and 3 seconds, in a race plagued by high temperatures.

Organizers said only 54 of the 190 starters completed the course, the last athlete finishing four seconds before the race deadline at nightfall Saturday.

"I tried to keep my tempo low in the day and run fast at night," said the 33-year-old Lukas, crowned with an olive wreath - the prize for every athlete who finishes the course. "People were exhausted with the heat during the day ... I don't look at the kilometres, just pieces of the road."

Lukas finished 90 minutes ahead of Frenchman Jean Pierre Guyomarch. Japan's Jun Onoki was third, finishing in 27:16.36.

The race, known as the Spartathlon, is a punishing re-enactment of the legendary run by the messenger Pheidippides nearly 2,500 years ago to seek the help of Sparta which had allied with rival Athens against a Persian invasion.

The route was plotted by a group of British air force officers in 1982, following the writings of the ancient historian Herodotus, and has been run as a race each year since.

Pheidippides' runs also inspired the marathon race.

Many of the Spartathlon favorites dropped out in the early stages due to the heat or during an exhausting mountain run at night.

Only two of the 12 women starters reached Sparta. France's Anny Monot finished in 35:38.08, three minutes in front of Kimie Funada of Japan.

Although the event received relatively little attention in Greece, Spartans have embraced it as a welcome reminder of their ancient warrior kingdom which left few monuments behind.

"This is something special for our city," said deputy mayor Christos Dimitropoulos, who supports efforts to make the Spartathlon an Olympic sport.

"We want it to coexist with the marathon," he said. "We want to increase the number of Greek events in the Olympics."

Sparta's main street was lined with flags of the 27 countries represented in the race. Coffee shops and stores remained open around the clock and old people gathered at cafes to watch the passing show.

"The race makes Sparta's history visible," said Michalis Hadjistephanou, who works at a local radio station. "It brings people together. The Greeks will clap the Germans and the Germans will applaud the Italians."

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