A Wandsworth nurse will be one of 25 British runners to attempt the gruelling 153-mile Spartathlon race in Greece later this month.

Catherine Simpson, 34, will take part in the footrace, dubbed the ‘world's most gruelling foot race’. She will have to finish the race in under 36 hours.

The race will take place on September 28 and include Welsh international Nathan Flear, who recorded the fourth best British time last year.

The race includes several obstacles, including a 3,900-foot mountain pass at 100 miles in the dead of night. The 153-mile journey will take runners from Acropolis in Athens to the statue of King Leonidas in Spart.

The race follows in the footsteps of Athenian messenger Pheidippides, who ran the distance before the 490BC Battle of Marathon to ask for Spartan help against invading Persian forces.

Along the way, it pits runners against several hurdles that often sees less than 50 per cent of the starters complete the journey. These include the blazing heat of late-Greek summer.

According to the Pheidippides legend, he came across the god Pan at the mountain peak – and runners will have to call on their own gods to help them reach Sparta.

As if the challenging conditions were not tough enough, there are 75 check points; failing to meet strict time cut-offs at each one sees runners stripped of their numbers and forced to join the “death bus” that sweeps up those whose efforts culminate with the letters DNF (did not finish) after their name.

Runners must also complete the race within a 36-hour maximum time limit – meaning they must run the distance almost non-stop at an average pace of than 4.25 miles an hour.

The British Spartathlon Team plays a unique role in the history of the race: RAF officers John Foden, John Scholtens and John McCarthy were the first three runners to complete the distance in 1982 when they set out on an RAF expedition to determine if the story of Pheidippides could be repeated. Their success led to the first Open International Spartathlon Race a year later, and the formation of the International Spartathlon Association, now the race’s governing body.

In an era when even the smallest participation marathons have been commercialised, Spartathlon remains steadfast to Olympian ideals: runners are not allowed to bear sponsors’ logos, and there is no prize money for the winner:

Spartathletes run for the distinction of taking part and to fulfil a dream challenge.

This year sees a strong British team looking for the first UK win since 1995.

The team includes Welsh international Nathan Flear, Ian Thomas who won this year’s Essex 100 Mile race, and Cat Simpson, first female in the 2017 145-mile Grand Union Canal Race.

The team’s 2018 captain Paul Ali said: “We have a very strong team this year that includes 11 runners who gained automatic qualification to the race thanks to their past results. Nathan Flear, who recorded the fourth best British time at Spartathlon 2017 looks like a particularly strong contender for a British win.