Japan's Ryoichi Sekiya wins Spartathlon race

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Ryoichi Sekiya of Japan has won the 27th Spartathlon ultramarathon, a 152.4-mile race that retraces the journey 2,500 years ago of legendary messenger Pheidippides.

The 52-year-old Sekiya completed the trek from Athens to Sparta on Saturday in 23 hours, 48 minutes, 24 seconds. Lars Skytte Christoffersen of Denmark was 43:21 back in second.

Japan's Sumie Inagaki was the top woman finisher in 27 hours, 39 minutes, 49 seconds.

The 320 participants started at the foot of the Acropolis at 7 a.m. on Friday. As of 1 p.m. Saturday, 30 hours after the starting time, 29 runners had finished and 148 were still in the race. There is a time limit of 36 hours.

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