It's All Greek to Me!

Historically speaking, the U.S. has never been well-represented in the Spartathlon. Yes, Scott Jurek put together a nice 3-year winning streak from '06-'08, but when you look at things from a pure numbers standpoint, we've been tremendously under-represented as a country out there every year. In a race where the finishing rate typically hovers around 35% each year, it's no wonder that we've had a hard time coming up with multiple finishers (or even any in some years) when we rarely even have 10 U.S. runners in the starting field.

The craziest stat of all (to me, anyway):

In the entire history of the Spartathlon, only 16 U.S. runners have crossed the finish line (some have completed the race multiple times, adding up to 34 total finishes). That's insane! Three separate countries had at least that many finish in last year's race alone!

Of course, maybe the reason we never find the finish can be explained by these maps they give us to navigate the Aid Stations in the Greek countryside. Shoot, there could be dozens of lost Americans out there right now, years later, just looking for those four pine trees in that exact diamond shape somewhere...

Good thing I hear the roads are pretty well marked on the course, because I'm guessing my ability to translate 75 of these little maps might suffer a bit after 100 miles or so...

As the caption mentions above, everyone agrees the course itself is actually very well marked during the race, so I'm not worried about getting lost at all. My crew, on the other hand? The might have a little bit of a tough time translating those street signs. I hope the Greek police are tolerant of frequent u-turns!

Speaking of my crew, with my wonderful wife currently being wonderfully pregnant, she will remain stateside for this adventure. Stepping up once again to reprise their stellar crew performances of years' past (Run 192, Long Trail, etc), my parents will be making the trip across the pond to support me. I learned my lesson last year in France that if the option exists to have a crew control 100% of the fuel you eat/drink during an international race, definitely take that option. We'll be staying in an apartment in Athens directly across the street from a grocery store, and you can bet your bottom Euro that I'll be controlling the quality and cleanliness of my food/water the whole time I'm out there. Look no further than the number of U.S. runners on the 100k team that had stomach issues during the World Championships last weekend to see the proof that it's worth the effort to ensure you're not consuming anything tainted while traveling overseas for a race!

The course, annotated in a language only I can understand!

I'll post one last preview of the race before I fly out on Monday for Greece. That post will include a link for everyone to follow the race progress as 350 of us follow in the steps of Pheidippides to Sparta! It's worth noting that the strict 36 hour time limit is no joke. The super-steep 3,000ft. climb up the mountain (Sangas Pass) at the 100 mile mark, coupled with the likely heat/humidity of the day, proves this course is no easy cruiser. ...and if you think about, the story says Pheidippidies arrived in Sparta after 36 hours himself, so technically speaking, we all have to beat this legendary figure's time. No pressure there!