About SPARTANION

24 Hours Race

The Spartanion was established in order to achieve the criteria for participation in the Spartathlon – the most difficult and the longest point to point road race in the world, where runners need to run 246.8 kilometers in no more than 36 hours. Since there are few races in Israel that one can obtain the Spartathlon criteria, and runners had to go abroad in order to achieve the Spartathlon criteria, so I decided to pick up the gauntlet and set up a flat, fast, reputative and comfortable race, under optimal conditions in which anyone who wants to start the journey to Sparta can take the first step in Israel

The race is equally open and inviting all runners who want to test their ability and run fast and long distances. Even if they do not consider the criterion for Spartathlon.

According to the rules of the Spartathlon, a “standard” criterion gives an entry ticket to the lottery to run Spartathlon, while a definitive criterion provides a direct entry, without a lottery. A criterion is valid for three years including the year of achieving the criterion.

Registration for the Spartathlon opens in January and closes in the second half of February each year. Therefore, the Spartanion date was set for January.

Thus, anyone who has achieved a criterion here in Spartanion, regular or definitive, can use it in three Spartathlons, including the Spartathlon that will be held the year the criterion is achieved.

The Spartanion race is held on Thursday to allow the Sabbath-keepers to participate in each heat, including the 24 hours, without Sabbath desecration.

Spartanion has 5 heats:

24-hour

12-hour

100 Miles

100 km (since 2021 is NO longer a criteria for Spartathlon)

63.2925 km (the distance is NOT criteria for Spartanthlon)

Thanks to its flat, convenient, smooth without potholes running course, it is possible to achieve the best times in the long distances in Israel.

In pursuit of professionalism, quality and accuracy:

Spartanion route was measured by a certified AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) measurer;

The Spartanion is supervised by INADO (Israel National Anti Doping Organization).

The Spartanion is recognize by the I.A.U. (International Association of Ultrarunners) and has achieved the IAU Bronze Label

The Spartanion is the Israel championship for its 4 heats, as such is evaluate by the iaa (Israel Athletic Association).

So it is to ensures that the result that all runners achievements will have the accuracy of world championships.

The rupitative course is 1,460 meter and 23 cm.

My personal note:

I’m sometimes asked, “What’s so attractive about Spartathlon?

well, the Spartathlon is organized entirely by volunteers – so is Spartanion.

There is a different “frequency”in Spartathlon, a different frequency that is such a strong force of attraction that this year (2021) I am scheduled to make the effort to arrive, as usual with my family, to run Spartathlon, yet another time.

To many, the Spartalon is perceived as something crazy or insane. To me at least, any distance, no matter how long, is neither insane nor crazy. It is simply the result of a tailored training and preparing to the challenge itself. True, there is difficulty. Great difficulty, but this is the strength of any challenge, otherwise it would not have been a challenge. Otherwise the result would not have been obtained at the end of the challenge. A result that is not expressed in the number on the measuring clock or odometer, but in the change that takes place inside.

For years I have been arguing that an ultra race is a laboratory for the mind, in which one can see in a very clear and unambiguous way what is inside it, what is going on in it. This is due to the fact that in the ultra there are no distractors, there is one clear goal and there is no need to be bothered with external issues such as work, interpersonal relationships and financial situation. Perhaps similar to Vipassana according to Guanka, it is all about creating appropriate circumstances for examining the state of mind and spirit.

 

The story behind Spartalon, the encounters with the “flock”of runners from all walk of life, from all parts of the world, a community from dozens of countries, near and far, that I would never encounter in the circumstances of a more empowering journey – is an experience that is hard to describe in words, no matter what language you speak and where you came from.

Sometimes I take a moment, disconnect myself from the event and conclude in one word… Wow!

And like any person who encounters something good, he wants to share the experience with others so that they too will feel good. This is how I found myself advocating honesty of the Spartalon.

 

Sometimes I take a moment, cut myself off from the event and conclude with one word … Wow!

Like any person who encounters something good, I want to share the experience with others so that they too will feel good. So I found myself an honest advocate of the Spartathlon.

After canceling two races that could made it possible to achieve the criterion for Spartathlon, I decided to initiate a race to allow the achievement of  criterion for Spartathlon, hence his name: Spartanion, a combination of Spartathlon and Criterion.

Another issue that I have in mind at the Spartanion initiative is the fact that the Spartathlon event always takes place at the end of the last week of September, and in fact without realizing it, the Sabbath-keepers do not participate in it. Therefore, it is not by chance that the Spartanion takes place on Thursday and ends on Friday morning. It was important to me that the Sabbath-keepers could participate in Spartanion, without fear of desecration of the Sabbath, and in the hope that something of the Spartathlon’s atmosphere, virtue and frequency would resonate with the experience of the Spartanion.

We, Dganit MAKA-KRAUZ, without her nothing of the Spartanion would have taken shape, and I – more than invite you to take part in Spartanion. We will be happy to see you, as participants, as supporters or as volunteers, in the spirit of the Spartathlon. There is room for everyone, and as my late grandmother Batya HONIGMAN, who was the shortest person I know in height and the highest person I have ever known in virtue and stature, used to say:

“If there’s place in the heart – there’s place in the house!”

Good training 
See you soon in Spartanion

yours & for you

Gilad KRAUZ

SPARTANION – A Race of Runners, by Runners for Runners 

Gilad KRAUZ, SPARTATHLON 2018| Photo: Dganit MAKA-KRAUZ