48. What is the second paragraph mainly about?
(A) The background of John Foden.
(B) The route of an ultra-marathon.
(C) The origin of the Spartathlon.
(D) The story of Pheidippides in ancient Athens.

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        In the Spartathlon, one of the world’s toughest ultra-marathons, runners run 245 km, about six marathons, within 36 hours. The runners start in Athens, and run all the way to historical Sparta.

        The Spartathlon’s heritage goes back to 490 B.C., when Pheidippides, an Athenian, made the journey to Sparta to ask the Spartans for help in fighting the invading Persians. It is recorded that he reached Sparta on the day after he left Athens. In 1982, this story sparked the interest of a British air-force officer and long-distance runner called John Foden, who wondered if it really was possible to run from Athens to Sparta and arrive the next day. With four other officers, Foden decided to see for himself; after a 36-hour slog they arrived in Sparti, as the town is now called. That achievement inspired the organization of the first Spartathlon a year later.

        The Spartathlon’s attraction has two sources. The first is the difficulty of finishing it. The Spartathlon is not the most difficult race, but it combines lots of different tests. There is the heat of the Greek day, and then the plunge in temperatures when darkness falls. There are climbs: the route includes a series of ascents, among them a 1,200-meter mountain pass in the dead of night. Above all, there is the relentless pressure of the clock. The second reason is that the idea of retracing Pheidippides’s footsteps still grips many participants. It feels like racing in history, passing through places where history began. 

        As finishers receive a laurel wreath and water from schoolgirls, many are overjoyed with emotion. However, the euphoria is fleeting. Within a few minutes, their joints and muscles start to seize up: after the race, Sparti resembles the set of a zombie film as participants lumber slowly around on legs that will not bend. But the itch to do it all over again soon appears.