Ultra runner Eoin Keith of Sportsworld has finished eighth place in the grueling Spartathlon – a 243km run from Athens to Sparta in Greece that includes a 1,200m night-time climb of Mount Parthenio on rough, unmarked paths and extreme variations in temperature from freezing cold to broiling hot.
Keith’s time of 26 hours 36 min 17 secs was by some way the fastest ever by an Irish runner in the race. Of the Irish men to have completed the Spartathlon, the fastest was Eddie Gallen, who finished the 2015 race in 31 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds. That was an improvement on the time of 32 hours 40 mins 49 secs he had run a year earlier.
Finishing in 28 hours 53 mins 12 secs for 27th place this year was Keith Whyte, who had been fastest of the Irish through the earlier stages of the race but was hampered by the flare-up of an old injury. Other Irish-based athletes to finish were Vilnis Pleite who was 38th in 30:22.45 and Rolando Espina 89th in 33:17.43. Dropping out close to the finish were Anthony Lee, Billy Holden and Samuel Kilpatrick.
When she finished in 34 hrs 57 mins 13 secs, Belgium-based Bridget Brady became only the second Irish woman ever to complete the Spartathlon. In 1998, Galway woman Doina Nugent was fourth woman and 20th overall in 30:58.22. Nugent, who lives in Vancouver, Canada, is still active. Last May, she was 1st W55 at the Sahara Race Namibia in southern Africa.
Overall race winner was Andrzej Radzikowski of Poland in 23 hours 1 in 13 secs. Finishing fourth and first woman was world 24-hour champion Katalin Nagy of the USA in 25 hours 23 mins 52 secs. Nagy was in second place early and briefly led the race but faded in the later stages. In all, there were 254 finishers. Times generally were a lot faster than in 2015.
Spartathlon Roll of Honour: Irish and Irish-based (corrections welcome!)
1995 – Don McDonald (Greystones) 35:10.04
1998 – Doina Nugent (Galway) 4th woman; 30:58.22
2010 – John O’Regan 34:34.00
2012 – Alan Myles 35:30.39.
2014 – Eddie Gallen 32:40.49, Samuel Kilpatrick 34:52.03, Anthony Lee 35:48.15.
2015 – Eddie Gallen 31:12.45, Thomas Bubendorfer 33:29.04, Thomas Klimas 33:29.29, Brian Ankers 35:03.34.
2016 – 8 Eoin Keith 26:36.17, 27 Keith Whyte 28:53:12, 38 Vilnis Pleite 30:22.45, 89 Rolando Espina 33:17.43, Bridget Brady 34:57.13.
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