Good Luck and Best wishes to Darin who will be the only Canadian in
tomorrow's historic Spartathlon in Greece. For those unfamiliar in is 246km
race in Greece covering the historic route from Athens to Sparta. It starts
at the Acropolis.

For twenty four consecutive years, the Spartathlon athletes have followed
the route John Foden and his team defined in 1982 when they experimented in
running from Athens to Sparta. It is based on Herodotus’ description of the
Athenian ‘Imerodromou’ or messenger who arrived in Sparta the day after he
departed from Athens and also on well known historical events of that time.
It has, therefore, been considered the nearest route to that which
Pheidippides must have followed.

Briefly, Miltiades’ messenger started out of Athens on the ancient Iera
Odos, or “sacred road,” up to Elefsis. From there he followed Skyronia Odos,
a military road on the slopes of the Gerania mountains, and traveled through
Isthmia, Examilia and Ancient Corinth. He went on to Ancient Nemea, thus
avoiding the Epicratea of Argos, as it wasn’t in alliance with Athens, and
he continued along the mountains between Argolida and Arcadia. He climbed
the Parthenio mountain (1200 meters), where he encountered the God Pan.
Descending the mountain, he continued in the direction of historical Tegea,
one of the locations mentioned by Herodotus in his account about
Pheidippides. He proceeded south toward Sparta. Upon his arrival in Sparta,
he completed 1140 “stadia,” which equaled 246 kilometers.