Robin Harvie’s Why We Run – A Story of Obsession is a different running book. Harvie concentrates on the “why”, and describes eloquently how Spartathlon evolved into a moby-dickensian obsession in his mind. The book is loaded with philosophic contemplation and metaphors, as well as realms into the author’s family history. Eventually Harvie links running to everything, and vice versa.
You won’t find any worthwhile training tips in this book. If you are mainly looking for advice on how to run the Spartathlon, you’d better google on. However, a plentitude of historical facts and trivia will help dive deep into the world of running and ultrarunning. And who knows, maybe reading this book might even predispose you to the Spartathlonitis virus.
Metaphors, facts and family business
Besides the plentitude of metaphors and symbolism, this book is filled with brainy quotes and conceits from various dignitaries, ranging from Plato to Kierkegaard, Saint-Exupéry to Murakami and Foden to Kouros. As a conclusion, Harvie sums up running and Spartathlon like this:
The essence of running is a metaphor for life and to run the Spartathlon was a way for us to become better people. (the indented blue color paragraphs in this review are direct quotes from “Why We Run”)It is not for me to say whether participating the Spartathlon actually makes us better human beings, but I would certainly like to believe so!
This book is also loaded with historical facts and trivia. Kudos to the author for setting straight the real dids and didn’ts of Pheidippides. The historical fact – as documented by Pheidippides’ contemporary Herodotos, who is also known as the Father of History – is that Pheidippides did run from Athens to Sparta and back to Athens in 490 BC. On the other hand, the legend of Pheidippides (or Philippides, or whoever) running from Marathon to Athens and dying immediately thereafter, is just fiction, created centuries later by Plutarch or Lucian.
A couple of inaccuracies found in the book could be revised, though. Yiannis Kouros did not run the double Spartathlon in 1984, he did it only in 2005. And although Spartathlon is typically rather warm or even hot, during the 2009 race the temperature did not reach 42 °C. Had that been the case, we would have DNFed well before the Corinth Channel.
September the 25th 2009– when the metaphors hit the road
The author had prepared himself for the race obsessively. When a 3½ hours marathon runner ends up running an unbelievable 6000 miles in 12 months just to prepare for one race, even the word obsession is an understatement. No wonder Mr Harvie had problems getting the required medical certificate to participate the Spartathlon race, as his resting heart beat was only 31!
Ahead of the race, Harvie studied the maps, tested the equipment and prepared the nutrition in the drop bags ad infinitum, just like any devoted first time Spartathlonist would do. After taking off from Acropolis at 7 A.M. his first aim in the race was to reach Check Point 22 by the Corinth Channel in about 9 hours. That would mean running two consecutive 4½ hours marathons, which was just business as usual for a well prepared runner. No surprises here.
However, after tedious first 12 hours of the race, things turn interesting at Check Point 32 (Soulinari Village, 109 km):
For the last hour I had run in the shadows, unnoticed, of two pale Finns, making me buoyant again at the thought that I was not alone, even though I had not exchanged a word with anyone since leaving Thierry four hours earlier.Having read this paragraph, my mind started wondering in Peloponnesos. In places like Ancient Corinth, Soulinari Village, Halkion Village, Ancient Nemea, and even “Road junction, before the underground crossing of the National road”, which happens to be Spartathlon Race’s Check Point #38. I have been there a few times, and actually, I was there also on September the 25th 2009.
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| Look what I found in my garderobe! |
We were in the middle of Greek country side. It was getting dark and we were just trying not to get lost. There were thunderbolts and lightning flashing over the mountains ahead of us, and that was undeniably very, very frightening.
Trying to cheer things up, Petri and I came up with lousy, and even lousier jokes. After running out of Vlad the Impaler antics, we came up with the marvelous idea that we were actually two hobbitsies heading for Mordor. The thunderstorm in the horizon originated from Orodruin, a.k.a. Mt. Doom. Bats constantly hovering above our heads were too small to be Nazgûl, but no doubt they were reporting our progress to their masters in Mordor.
We rarely saw other runners, but as we know now, we were not alone.
I kept my distance from the Finns, not wanting to startle them into trying to shake me off, so that when their lights disappeared around the corner I could see nothing but the haze of my own light.Had we noticed that we had a “Gollum” sneaking behind us, we probably would have continued our Tolkienic jokes a bit longer, maybe all the way to Sparta?
The author ended his journey after 134 kilometers. This is what he saw at Check Point #38, where he decided to take the bus to Sparta.
The Finns arrived as the Land Rover appeared, kicking up dust, and they politely asked for a cup of tea. Hunched over the long stilts of their legs, they stood motionless, feigning death, their faces pale in the light of the oil lamp, macabre and sorrowing, like those of drowned men.That is probably an accurate description of a worn-out Spartathlon runner, fighting with the time limits and trying to escape the bus in behind, heading towards a thunderstorm in front. We were not ready to give up, but as we now know, were only some 30 kilometers away from our personal bus stop.
Never did we think that someone might tell stories of our journey by the campfire, or write songs about it. Not to mention someone writing a book, with a couple of gutsy Finns being mentioned several times.
What if?
This is the last paragraph of the book's final chapter, called “The Journey to the End of the Night”:
I never did see the two Finns again, and when I retraced my steps, trying to remember every detail of the place where I had collapsed, it was to them that my imagination turned, wondering whether they, and by extension I – could have finished if I had tried for one last checkpoint.Who knows? If the author had opted to continue his race with our team Finland, he would have met two more Finns at C/P 40 Malandreni Village. We would have rambled on towards the Sagas Mountain at 160 km, and at least two of us would have reached Sagas Village (C/P 49, 164,5 km) at the brighter side of the mountain.
However, before the grand Nestani Village Check Point at 172 km even the remaining members of our team would have boarded the bus. At least, that is what happened in real life on the early hours of Saturday the 26th of September 2009.
In an alternative history things might have turned out differently. Maybe our Fenno-British team would have considered “What would Frodo do”, and acted accordingly. Or maybe we would have just repeated the classic “I’m totally ready to quit, but only at the next Check Point”-strategy all the way down to Sparta valley.
Or maybe we would have unanimously agreed that we were doomed not to finish the Spartathlon, just as Captain Ahab was predestined never to catch Moby-Dick.
Epilogue
Ever wonder what happened to some of the characters of “Why We Run” after the non-finished Spartathlon of 2009? Luckily we do not have to guess, because the absolute truth can be found in the statistics on the Deutsche Ultramarathon Vereiningung’s website.
If running truly is a proper metaphor for life, this sums up the lives and deeds of one Briton and two Finns in 2009-2019:
One pale Finn has kept on ultra running, at least occasionally. He even managed to finish the 2014 Spartathlon, and he probably still dreams of finishing some ultra races in the coming years.
Another pale Finn has run a lot. The DNF in 2009 Spartathlon was nothing but a minor speed bump in his ultra running career. During the past 10 years he has finished an enviable amount of ultra races, including four regular Spartathlons and even “The Authentic Pheidippides Run” a.k.a. Double Spartathlon.
The Briton seems to have kept his vow not to participate the Spartathlon race again. However, he did run the 100 miles Thames Path Ultra last spring. Although the Spartathlonitis virus may remain latent for several years,it can reactivate without warning, especially in late September. The Epilogue Chapter of his book is anticipatorily titled “
As an avid reader and also a carrier of Spartathlonitis virus, I enjoyed reading this book a lot and I rate it ★★★★★ out of ★★★★★.
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An article about Robin Harvie's "Why We Run", published on telegraph.co.uk in April 2011 is here.
The official Spartahlon 2009 video is here.
The current version of Spartathlon Road Book is here.
My spartahlonitis blog posts about my failed Spartathlon 2009 are here and here.
