When most people turn 40 they think of having a blowout in Las Vegas or a huge party to celebrate the milestone — but not Jason Williams.

He decided to compete in one of the world’s toughest endurance races, the Spartathlon in Greece.

The ultra long-distance race covers over 150 miles and relives the exploits of Pheidippides, an ancient Athenian long-distance runner, who in 490BC before the Battle of Marathon, was sent to Sparta to seek help in the war between the Greeks and the Persians.

This year the race had Bermudian representation as Williams became the first person from the island to compete, and the 40-year-old firefighter and real estate agent pushed himself through the pain barrier.

“I was aiming to be able to say that I’m 40 and this is the fittest I’ve ever been,” Williams said.

“I’m always keen to do the most challenging races ultra has to offer and this definitely came up over and over as one of the toughest races in the world

“I believe I am the only Bermudian to have ever competed in the race and to qualify you have to have run 100 miles in 21 hours or less.

“I used to think doing that was impossible as my first 100 mile-race took me more than 30 hours. So to be able to shave that amount of time off, at first I thought it was impossible, but every couple of years I worked towards achieving that goal.”

Williams has previously taken part in some of the most infamous runs in the world, including the Leadville Trail 100 Run in 2021, but he was impressed with the organisation of the event in Greece as he prepared to tackle some serious climbs.

“The initial registration and entry into the race covers pretty much everything, including accommodation, meals and transportation so there is not much to think about once you arrive,” Williams said.

“I stayed for the minimum amount of time but I would definitely have liked to stay for longer, a couple of days in advance and a couple of days after would have been really nice, but I found it to be surprisingly hot. The highs were in the 90s and lows in the 70s.

“The past ultras that I have participated in were mostly off-road. This one was predominantly all-road. They had a climb at 100 miles, which was on a mountain trail but other than that it was mostly road running along the highway and on busy streets, which was different for a race of that length.

“It wasn’t very hilly to start but then we had some very difficult climbs. One climb went on for 12 miles, and then on to a mountain base.

Williams ran for more than 24 hours before finally dropping out with 40 miles left and his failure to finish remains a sore point.

“I feel like I have unfinished business for sure,” Williams said.

“I made it to checkpoint 52 of 75, which was 110 miles of the 153-mile course. It was my first-ever DNF but that was not really a surprise because of the difficulty of the race and the amount of people that fail to finish.

“I think I ran for just over 24 hours to make it to checkpoint 52 but better preparation and taking some assistance might help.

“A lot of people take crew and there are crew checkpoints where they can assist a runner with anything they need. I was solo and there are not many people doing it solo, so relying on the checkpoints just for food and sustenance was difficult. Other people don’t do that so changing my game plan will definitely help. I would like to go and challenge again.”

The father-of-three puts himself through these extreme endurance tests to inspire his family, particularly his children.

“For me it’s to see how far I can go and what limits I have and how I can push myself,” Williams said.

“I also want to inspire my family, I have three children and want them to believe that they can do anything. Just looking at what I have accomplished will hopefully allow them to springboard off of those achievements.”

Williams does not have time to recover as he has been selected in the Bermuda team to participate in the Backyard Ultra World Championships, which takes place on October 19.

“The Bermuda Backyard Ultra is usually held in December but they are having the World Championships next week and a team is representing each country,” Williams said.

“If I’m well enough I will be taking part in the team event. I am not fully recovered yet but over the course of the next week I hope I’ll be fit enough to run again.”