21 Sep Charity challenge foot race with a difference

Acxiom's David Barker is taking on a challenge with a difference next week in a race called Spartathlon, a 153 mile foot race held annually in Greece since 1983 and takes place between Athens and Sparta.

The Spartathlon aims to trace the footsteps of Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger sent to Sparta in 490 BC to seek help against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, he left Athens at sunrise and arrived in Sparta at sunset the following day. As a result, the race allows runners only 36 hours to complete the journey, and starts at 7am at the Acropolis on Friday 30 September. It’s a non-stop event, so no sleeping, just 36 hours of running, hiking, staggering and crawling!

“You know it’s a long race when you don’t finish in the same month that you start!” said David.

“The race starts in Athens on Friday and if all goes well, I will still be running on Saturday afternoon! This will be far further than I have ever tried to run before, and there is a very good chance I won’t get to the finish, despite all the training. The average success rate for this race is only 45%, and in 2012 (a particularly hot year) only 23% of runners completed the race.”

David’s support crew will be tweeting about his progress throughout the race – and you’ll be able to follow David’s progress online as he’ll be carrying a GPS tracker!

All the funds raised will go to the Freddie Farmer Foundation.

Visit David Barker's Virgin Money Giving page.