Pheidippides Feat II- Yiannis Kouros 

Yiannis Kouros
Yiannis Kouros
September 27, 2011
Athens, Greece
September 29, 2011
Athens, Greece

The flame that burned inside the ancient Athenian message runner Pheidippides, calling Spartans for help to conquer the Persians in the Battle of the Marathon, burns also inside Yiannis.

Spartathlon
The great historian of antiquity Herodotus (490 B.C.) described the details of the Battle of Marathon. He mentioned Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger (530 BC–490 BC), who was sent by his generals to Sparta, hoping to get military aid to reinforce the Athenian forces against the forthcoming Asiatic incursion. Herodotus wrote that Pheidippides ran 246K in 1,5 day to deliver his message in Sparta.
In 1982 four English men followed the route description of Herodotus to find out or this was possible for a human being. They indeed managed to finish within 36 hours.
The historical Spartathlon race was born and attracts every year UltraRunners from over the world since then.

Yiannis Kouros ran and won the Spartathlon four times, with still the four fastest finishes ever.

But then he took a closer look at the history and discovered Pheidippides had run a different route than the Spartathlon course.
To really run in the footsteps of Pheidippides, Yiannis organized and ran the “Pheidippides Feat” in 2005 (53h 43m) non-stop.

This original route of Pheidippides includes passing and returning from Mount Parthenion without night rest, from Athens to Sparta, back to Athens and then on to Marathon.

Yiannis repeated Pheidippides Feat Athens – Sparta – Athens on September 27, 2011 to celebrate his 40 years of running as well as the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. This time he completed the 492K route in 61h 24:21.

Yiannis ran to honor this heroic messenger whose performance in 490 B.C. helped save Greece and Western civilization, but mostly “because Greece is in danger. It is at risk like 2,500 thousand years ago. Then territorially and at risk of national extinction, now economically but with similar risks.”
This time it took Yiannis 61 hours, 24 minutes and 21 seconds to complete the challenge.

He started from the Sanctuary of Panos and returned from Sparta to Athens “carrying the message of the eternal Greek soul” as Yiannis Kouros described it.

“What Pheidippides did, going to Sparta just for a message and bring back a message to the Athenian,
I’d like to think of myself as a messenger.
I want to inspire, to give the message that something is doable. Everything is possible as far as I am concerned as long as you go for it.”
Yiannis Kouros

Copyrights image: Yiannis Kouros

Connect with Pheidippides Feat II- Yiannis Kouros

Login

User email *
Password *
User email *
Password *
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Last Page

Get listed for the Global Running Adventures Award

Are you an adventure seeking runner who has completed a self made project or is eager to start one?

Submit this 3-minute application to qualify for a FREE profile page, including your bio, achievements, past/upcoming adventure, story and cause.

Wanna give people an opportunity to participate in your exciting running project or expedition-like adventure?
Here's your chance to share it with the world for free!

You qualify for the FREE Profile Page if you meet the following criteria:

  • you have a self supported running project completed, in the making or are planning to start one
  • your project will support a good cause that relates to you personally
  • you need media, sponsors and a network to get all the possible support to succeed
  • you're enthusiastic and motivated to realize your goals! 

Just a few questions to get a better picture;-)
I'll read and respond to each and every application, and I'll get back to you within a few days.

What do you apply for? *
Who do you want to nominate? *
please fill in their name
What is the email of the person you nominate? *
please fill in their email
Fill required fields
Your name *
Your email *
Fill required fields
Stage running journey *
if you nominate someone else fill in for him/her
Fill required fields
Adventure start date *
you can change it later if you're not sure yet
Adventure finish date *
you can change it later if you're not sure yet
Fill required fields
Name of adventure *
you can change it later if you're not sure yet
Adventure description *
give a short description of your adventure idea
Where did/will the adventure take place *
you can change it later if you're not sure yet
Fill required fields
Link to adventure resources
you can fill in your website or any other resource
Why (did) you want to do this? *
give a short description of the reason for your adventure
Link to cause
you can fill in a website of a charity or any other resource
Fill required fields
Are you interested in any of these forms of partnership? *
Get full exposure to your niche for 100+ days, resulting in real long lasting relations and leads.
Do you know anyone who might be interested in partnering?
Please fill in their name and email.
When someone applies you both get a free Award event ticket:-)
Anything else you like to share?
here you can share/ask additional info about the application