‘Ultramarathon Man’ Dean Karnazes is to feature in a new film about the Spartathlon – the historic ultra-distance foot race that takes place in September every year in Greece.
The Road to Sparta will be filmed during this year’s race which will be run on September 26 and 27.
The movie will follow the progress of Karnazes and three other runners – Athens nurse Angela Terzi, Mark Woolley and Mark Pinnington – as they take on the gruelling 246 kilometres from Athens to Sparta.
The Spartathlon follows the route believed to have been taken by Pheidippides in 490 BC when, according to Herodotus, he was sent to raise Spartan reinforcements to fight the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.
“I have been wanting to run the Spartathlon for a long, long time,” says Karnazes, who shot to fame for his best-selling 1995 book Ultramarathon Man.
“It never fit into my schedule, though, until now. So I am delighted to be able to go back to my home country and take on this great race.”
Karnazes, 51, will make the task more difficult by only eating the foods that Pheidippides would have had in ancient times.
“I am writing a book about [him] so I want to take on the course using only the foods and drink that would have been available to him two and a half thousand years ago.
“That means only water and olives, along with figs and dried meat and a paste composed of sesame seeds and honey.”
The man behind the film is internationally renowned sports journalist Barney Spender, who spent five years in Greece from 2004 to 2009. Spender – who ran the Athens Classic Marathon in 2002 – told Neos Kosmos he first became aware of the Spartathlon in 2006.
“The winner that year was Scott Jurek and I managed to get him on the phone for an interview. I was fascinated by the idea that these people would run six marathons back to back. And enjoy it!”
Spender believes the race makes the perfect subject for a film seen through the runners’ eyes.
“I feel I have a duty to try and make something that will capture the wonderful essence of this race, not just the pain and the sweat and the glory but the history and the genuine camaraderie. I want to know what goes on in a runner’s head when he or she is on the road for 36 hours!”
Spender has worked as a journalist for Reuters, the BBC and The Times newspaper. He currently works for Eurosport.
“I love this race,” he says, “everything that it represents, the rich history of Greece and the incredible determination of every runner to push themselves beyond their perceived limits.”
The Road to Sparta is being funded through a crowd-funding campaign at Indiegogo. You can follow the progress of the film and the funding campaign on the ‘Road to Sparta Movie’ Facebook page.