I’ve just hobbled up some steps onto a temporary wooden platform to take this photo. My feet hurt. They hurt a lot. Sarah, Mark and Dan are below taking their own pictures. I need a minute to myself. I’ve started crying. My race finished 21 hours ago, when I ran up to this statue, grasping the left foot in a sweaty embrace. However it is only now, when we have stopped off in Sparta before driving back to Athens, that the magnitude of the achievement and the effort it required is sinking in. I’m completely drained, not just physically but mentally and emotionally.

Pablo Barnes es un atleta argentino que desde hace años vive en Italia, país en el cual ha conseguido grandes resultados en las carreras de Ultra-trail. En 2007 ganó, junto con el gran Marco Olmo, la primera edición de la Ultra Trail La Via Marenca (90.2km).

You see, last year I ran Spartathlon for the first time and finished in 33:47. My first goal was to finish and then to go below under 34 hours, if possible. So, it seems like everything went according to plan, right? Actually, the numbers don't tell the whole story.

Let me start off by saying this is not an easy post to compose. I had fully hoped to be writing a post about successfully completing my Triple Crown of Ultra-Running. I never expected to be staring blankly at my computer dissecting and analyzing what went wrong? Spartathlon is the Ultimate Test of Ultra-running.

While waiting in the queue I scanned each of the nine people in front of me – knowing that less than half of us will reach the finish line and the same applied to the rest of the crowded room of participants.

In 2015 I was blessed to return to the Spartathlon for the 3rd time. For me it was the greatest honor and the culmination of yet another year. I first ran Spartathlon in 2013, then returned in 2014. The exact same race, two very different experiences. In 2013 the race went well and while having some challenges as anybody else in the race,

Φτάνοντας στην Κόρινθο, ένιωθα την υπέρτατη χαρά και τον ενθουσιασμό για την συνέχεια... το κομμάτι του αγώνα που μου αρέσει περισσότερο, και που με εκφράζει σαν Αντζυ... την ησυχία, τα αμπέλια, το αργό κατέβασμα του ήλιου και τον ερχομό της νύχτας.

One of the most iconic races of the Ultra season is the 246km Spartathlon held annually in Greece. The Spartathlon traces the footsteps of Pheidippides, the legendary Athenian messenger sent to Sparta in 490 BC to seek help against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon.

I marched down the high street towards the finish to the cheers and adulation of the crowd as the raw heat of the sun was starting to cool and early evening approached.

Είναι λίγη ώρα που επέστρεψα σπίτι.
Ήταν ένα δύσκολο Σπάρταθλο μου είπε ένας ξένος αθλητής, του είπα πως ποτέ το Σπάρταθλο δεν ήταν εύκολο. Συμφώνησε, είχαμε τερματίσει και οι δύο.

Endlich...it is one of those German words, a bit like eng ( that means a tight space) that sums up a feeling better than an English one. It means a sort finality so much more all-encompassing than the word finally. When it has taken over four years and three failed attempts to achieve something it really does mean a lot.

This is my Spartathlon race review 2015. I want to caveat it by saying I am not looking for any sympathy by including my post-race feelings first, rather than the race itself. What I will say is that I wrote those words yesterday while feeling on the low side.