Further to my open letter to the ISA here I received the below response from a board member Panagiotis Bonelis
"Hi Rob,
The increase in participation fees for athletes from outside Greece this year happened simply because the cost of hotels in the Glyfada area of Attica has risen excessively.
However, if you break down the costs below, you’ll see that the pricing is fully justified.
The participation fee for all athletes is 450 euros.
So, the additional 800 euros charged to non-Greek athletes is broken down as follows:
133 euros per day x 6 days, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner, transportation, insurance coverage, and accommodation in Athens and Sparta.
You might ask: Why don’t you give international athletes the option to choose their own accommodation?
Simply because:
We want to preserve the ‘magic’ of having all teams and nationalities gathered in specific hotels for the SPARTATHLON. Don't forget that SPARTATHLON promotes friendship and cooperation among athletes. We are not an impersonal event.
They won’t find anything cheaper with the same level of hospitality and benefits.
See here prices for the exact period of 25-30 September only for Glyfada
2 Things have in mind
1) We want to preserve the ‘magic’ of having all teams and nationalities gathered in specific hotels for the SPARTATHLON. Don't forget that SPARTATHLON promotes friendship and cooperation among athletes. We are not an impersonal event.
2) We are not a company and we are all volunteers.
We do not have any profit form what we do for SPARTATHLON.
We are a group of ROMANTIC PEOPLE who loves SPARTATHLON"
I have known Panagiotis Bonelis since my first adventures in Spartathlon and I know what a good egg he and indeed all the volunteers are. As some people know I don't do social media, but to say I'm disappointed with the lurid accusations about the ISA that have been banded is some what of an understatement. As Ultra runners we should be better than that.
