ATHENS, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The 40th Spartathlon ultramarathon race started on Friday at the foot of the Athens Acropolis, with 353 runners from 48 countries and regions participating in the 245-kilometer course from Athens to Sparta in southern Greece.

Following the footsteps of the ancient Greek soldier Pheidippides, they aim to cross the finish line on Saturday.

About one-third of participants achieve this, according to the international "SPARTATHLON" association, which organizes the event under the auspices of the Greek Ministries of Tourism and National Defense.

According to ancient Greek historians, in 490 BC, ahead of the battle of Marathon against the Persian forces, Pheidippides was sent from Athens to Sparta to ask for help, making the journey on foot nonstop within two days.

In 1982, three British men set off to test whether the references were correct, and this is how the event started.

The target of runners is to reach the statue of ancient Spartan King Leonidas in Sparta within the 36-hour time limit, to be awarded an olive wreath and a sip of water from the Evrotas river.

Niedzielski Robert from Poland, who participated for the first time, told Xinhua that he wanted to try because of the tradition and history of the race.

"[The goal is] to finish. I don't have the experience with such long trail races," he said.

It will also be the first attempt at Spartathlon for Hilde Dosogne from Belgium. "This is really the race of my life, so I really look forward to it, and I hope I will finish," she said.

A mother of four with a full-time job at a chemical company, Dosogne has the support of her husband, who had been taking care of the children and the house while she was training for months.

Greek runner Yannis Kouros, who won the first Spartathlon, still holds the record time of 20 hours and 25 minutes. Enditem

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