The year 2010 is of special significance for the term “MARATHON”. It is the anniversary year “2500 Years of the Marathon”. When you hear the word “marathon”, you may not first think about the city of Marathon or the Battle of Marathon, which took place in 490 BC.
The term has taken on a meaning of its own and is synonymous for a 42.195 km race. The battle of the Athenians against the Persians did, in fact, take place in 490 BC – but the story of the messenger of victory and his run from Marathon to Athens may be no more than a legend, but one that everyone believes! In 1896 – during the Olympic Games in Athens – the first race took place from Marathon to Athens.
Greece will be celebrating the 2500-year anniversary with official festivities in 2010; the 28th Athens Classic Marathon (ACM) will, of course, be celebrating commensurately as well at their event on October 31, 2010. It will not only be an event of the century, but a “millennial event” – that is something that no other sport can lay claim to. You may recall the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996, the Berlin Marathon in 1990 when the course led through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time, or the New York City Marathon in 2001 after 9/11 – all were races with a record number of participants and all were unique experiences for the running world.
The German Athletics Association (DLV), together with the city of Mainz, the Mainz Marathon, the LSB Rheinland-Pfalz and GRR will be organising a celebration of the anniversary of “2500 Years of the Marathon” on May 7, 2010 on the occasion of the German Marathon Championships. 2010 will be an exciting year for running.
The Greek athletics association (SEGAS), the Athens Classic Marathon and AIMS (Association of International Marathon and Distance Races) have produced a joint logo for 2010 for the MARATHON anniversary, which will appear on medals, posters, printed materials and souvenirs at numerous races.
To set the mood for the marathon, German Road Races is repeating an article by Olympic historian Dr. John Lucas, which was publicised in March 2009 on the GRR website.
Horst Milde
A History of the Marathon Race — 490 B.C. to 1975* — by John Apostal Lucas - *Originally printed in: The Amateur Athlete, 28 (November 1957), 10-13. - Part I and II, and available in his recently published anthology, John Apostal Lucas: Teacher, Sport Historian, And One Who Lived His Life Earnestly - A Collection Of Articles And Essays, available at www.eifrigpublishing.com.
It is also a geographic location in Greece—made famous in 490 B.C. as the “Battle of Marathon.” The word “marathon” may be used as an adjective in describing any phenomenon of great length, and it is commonly used in this manner.
“Forty kilometers and then some — a marathon history from Pheidippides to Bill Rodgers”
Greek Antecedents
The marathon race is one of the greatest tests of individual endurance, and, in the western world, has resulted in an extraordinary history of physical prowess, courage, foolhardiness, drama and tragedy. The interesting word “marathon” may be used as a noun to describe any long distance foot race; in a twentieth-century context, it refers to an endurance contest of twenty-six miles, 385 yards.
It is also a geographic location in Greece—made famous in 490 B.C. as the “Battle of Marathon.” The word “marathon” may be used as an adjective in describing any phenomenon of great length, and it is commonly used in this manner. This paper will deal with the history of the marathon run—from its shrouded ancient origins to the extraordinary 1975 Boston Marathon victory of that New England free spirit—William “Bill” Rodgers. The even more perplexing problem of why men and women will spend years of preparation in order to run rapidly and without stopping more than forty-two kilo-meters will at least be alluded to in this document.
Highly-organized competitive sport was invented by the Greeks. Homer’s epic poem, the Iliad, is a tapestry of sport training and competition. Book XXIII, “The funeral rites of Patroclus, and how the games were held in his honor,” is one of literature’s most revealing insights into man’s play and competitive instincts.1 Later in 776 B.C., the Olympic Games were established to honor the gods, to pay homage to Greek warriors, and to emphasize and formalize a way of living that was to characterize these people for a thousand years. Herod-otus immortalized this Greek penchant for sport in Book VIII of his Histories, where Greek deserters, brought before the Persians king, were asked what their countrymen were doing at that time.
The Arcadians told him that they were keeping the Olympic festival and watching athletic contests and horse-races. The questioner asked what was the prize that they were contending for; and the Arcadians told him about the crown of olive that was to be won. Then Tigranes, son of Artabanus, said a most noble thing, though the king thought him a coward for it: for when he heard that the prize was a garland and not money, he could not hold his peace, but exclaimed in the hearing of all: “alas, Mardonius, what men are these that you have brought us to fight, who hold contests not for money but for the honor of winning.”2
The Ancient Legend of Marathon
Nowhere in Greek sporting literature is there any mention of a twenty-six-mile marathon race. The Olympic multiple stade race probably did not exceed three miles. According to history and legend, the Persian king, Darius, attacked Greece to punish Athens for sending aid to the Ionian rebels. Herodotus says that Darius was so angered by the sack of Sardis that, during the rest of his life, he had a herald cry out to him thrice each day at dinner,—“O King, remember the Athenians!” The truth is that Persia was in a full career of conquest, and invasion was inevitable. The first expedition against Greece, 492 B.C., failed; in 490 B.C. the full strength of the Persian army and navy captured the Greek city of Eretria. Then the Persians landed on the plain of Marathon in Attica, prepared to punish Athens.
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