The Economist: The lunacy of the long distance runner!

Vomit, bleeding nipples and hallucinations. Why would anyone in their right mind rub the Spartathlon? Parthenon is lit, but Athens is still dark. In the gloom, a cleaner is sweeping the pedestrianized road that runs beneath the southern slope of the Acropolis, and in the trees behind the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an ancient stone theater, Lycra clad figures are urinating everywhere. These are the last few minutes before the start of the Spartathlon, one of the world's toughest ultra marathons. The 310 runners in this year's race are doing their final stretches. Energy supplements are being taken, running belts are being checked, caps with neck flaps to protect against the sun are being adjusted. Many athletes have a crew to support them during the race. There is time for some final words of encouragement before the runners edge towards the starting line. At 7am precisely, as dawn approaches, the race begins. The field strings around the Acropolis and past the agora, the heart of ancient Athenian life, before heading into the early morning traffic. The pace is gentle, an average runner can keep up for the first kilometer easily, but this race is about distance, not speed. After that first kilometer, another and another, and another lie ahead. Everyone in the field has completed at least a 100km, 67 mile race. For this event, they will have to run 245km, or almost six consecutive marathons within 36 hours. Only 72 of them will end up making it all the way to historical Sparta. This year's Spartathlon, which took place in late September, was the 30th. Its heritage goes back much further. The most famous ultra marathon in history was that run by Pheidippides, an Athenian who made the journey to Sparta in 490 BC. His mission was to ask the Spartans for their help in fighting the invading Persians. Herodotus, a historian, records that he reached Sparta on the day after the day he left Athens. The Spartans were celebrating a religious festival, so they could not offer help until after the Athenians had dispatched the Persians at the battle of Marathon!