Hungarian ultrarunner Tamás Bódis won the 2026 Spartathlon in a course-record time of 19:40:51, leading the historic 246‑kilometre road race from Athens to Sparta from the very first checkpoint.
Tied at dawn, alone by dusk
Bódis and home favourite Fotios Zisimopoulos passed the 54.7‑km mark together. Bódis then applied steady pressure and by Saturday evening held a 20‑minute lead, the two having broken clear of the field.
The gap reached 40 minutes by the 225‑km mark. Zisimopoulos, unbeaten at this race between 2021 and 2024, finished second, 51 minutes and 50 seconds behind.
A record and a rare Hungarian crown
Bódis shaved 14 minutes and 11 seconds off Zisimopoulos's 2023 mark of 19:55:02. His first win, in 2019, came in 23:29:32 — nearly four hours slower than this year's run.
Only one other Hungarian man, János Bogár in 1991, had won the Spartathlon before Bódis. The 38‑year‑old now stands as the nation's first two‑time champion in the event commemorating Pheidippides' ancient courier run.
A season built on records
Bódis arrived in Greece after a year that already included a course record at UltraBalaton, a Hungarian national record over 100 kilometres, and a six‑hour track record in June. "It's a great joy for me that after such a great start to the year, the autumn season is continuing just as well," he wrote on social media afterwards.
Twenty‑two of the 25 Hungarian starters finished the race. On Sunday evening the Hungarian national anthem played in Sparta as Bódis received the winner's plaque.
