Marathon, Greece
Bear and I are on a marathon trip home from Greece.
Unlike the original marathon participants, we are not running naked.
When the Athenian army crushed the invading Persians at the city of Marathon in 490 BC, they sent a professional long-distance runner to tell the people of Athens about the victory.
The Athenians chose Pheidippides as their courier.
Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens without stopping, discarding his weapons and even his clothing to lose as much weight as possible.
Upon reaching the capital, Pheidippides exclaimed “Rejoice, we conquer!”, before collapsing and dying.
Organizers of the modern Olympic Games adopted the name Marathon to describe a long-distance foot race. The marathon became a signature event of the Games.
The standard distance of a marathon course is 26 miles, 385 yards. The very odd standard was set during the London Olympics in 1908. It is “the distance from Windsor Castle to the Olympic stadium, and one-half lap around the track at the Royal viewing area”. The same distance has been used for every marathon since.
The first modern Olympic marathon in 1896 was won by Spyridon Louis, a Greek watercarrier. Louis completed the 26-mile run in 2hr 58 min 50 sec.
Marathon times have been getting shorter ever since. The current record is held by Kelvin Kiptum. The Ethiopian ran the Olympic marathon in 2hr 00 min 35 sec!
23 of the top 25 marathon times have been clocked by runners from Kenya and Ethiopia.
No one knows how long it took Pheidippides to run from Marathon to Athens. The distance is approximately 25 miles, but nobody had a watch back then.
The Soldier of Marathon Announcing the Victory (1834) by Jean-Pierre Cortot; Louvre, Paris
Earth is the primary venue for marathons; however, one race was run on Mars. The Martian Rover Opportunity travelled a distance of approximately 25 km through a rocky gully.
The crevasse Opportunity explored on Mars is named Marathon Valley.
Marathon runners in Finland have perpetuated the naked marathon tradition. Nakukymppi is an annual run where participants wear only shoes, socks, and headgear.
Swedish and Danish runners at Nakukymppi.
The marathon Bear and I are on today starts in Chania on the island of Crete. We fly to Athens and overnight there. In the morning, we will catch a very early flight to Amsterdam, sit for four hours, then fly home to Calgary.
It will be a trek worthy of …
…Pheidippides.
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