Scott Jurek won the Spartathlon ultra-marathon on Saturday.

The American finished the 246-kilometer (152-mile) annual race from Athens to Sparta in 22 hours, 52 minutes, 18 seconds.

Sekiya Ryoichi was second in 24:14:11, and fellow Japanese Masayuki Ohtaki was third in 25:19:12.

In the women's race, Japan's Inagaki Sumie won in 28:37:20.

The race takes runners over highways, dirt roads and mountains — a route followed 2,500 years ago by the legendary messenger Pheidippides.

The 260 runners from 32 countries set out early Friday on a course that winds through rugged terrain to the finish line at the Statue to ancient King Leonidas in Sparta, in the southern Peloponnese.

The athletes, who share a strong camaraderie, run through vineyards, mud, olive groves and up Mount Parthenio — a 1,200-meter (3,900-feet) ascent — in the middle of the night.

"They are coming here just for the difficulties (of the course)," Spartathlon chief organizer Panagiotis Tsiakiris said.

Participants must run the course in under 36 hours and only a third usually finish, Tsiakiris said.

"It's a great experience," said American runner Mark Williams before setting out on his 14th Spartathlon on his 41st birthday.

Williams, from San Jose, California, said he had run marathons before and "felt like he had lots left at the end." The Spartathlon is about eight kilometers (five miles) short of six consecutive marathons, and its history intrigued him.

The Spartathlon course is based on Herodotus' historical account of the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger, was sent to summon troop reinforcements against the invading Persians and arrived in Sparta "one day later."

In 1982, British Royal Air Force officer John Foden tested the ancient tale and finished the course in 36 hours, proving the feat was possible and laying the groundwork for the annual race.

Participants are required to pass certain prerequisites. Each athlete must have finished a 100-kilometer (62-mile) race in less than 10 hours and 30 minutes, completed a 200-kilometer (125-mile) race, or finished or reached a certain checkpoint in a previous Spartathlon.