One More Mile - Cape Cod Athletic Club

Cape Cod Athletic Club - July/Oct 2007
What is the marathon?
The Multisport Wiki
www.wikipedia.com
T
he marathon is a long-distance running event of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards) that can be run either as a road
race or off-road (for example, on mountain trails).
History
The name marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens
to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without
stopping and burst into the senate with the words "Masters! Victory is ours!" before collapsing and dying due to exhaustion. The
account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD who quotes
from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. Lucian of Samosata
(2nd century AD) also gives the story but names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides).
The Greek historian Herodotus, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars, mentions Pheidippides as the messenger who ran
from Athens to Sparta asking for help. In some Herodotus manuscripts the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is
given as Philippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, and relates that the main part
of the Athenian army, having already fought and won the grueling battle, and fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an
undefended Athens, marched quickly back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day.
There are two roads out of the battlefield of Marathon towards Athens, one more mountainous towards the north whose distance
is about 34.5 km (21.4 miles), and another flatter but longer towards the south with a distance of 40.8 km (25.4 miles). It
has been argued that the ancient runner took the more difficult northern road because at the time of the battle there were still
Persian soldiers in the south of the plain.
In 1876, Robert Browning wrote the poem "Pheidippides". Browning's poem, his composite story, became part of late 19th
century popular culture and was accepted as an historic legend.
When the idea of a modern Olympics became a reality at the end of the 19th century, the initiators and organizers were looking
for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of organizing a marathon race came from Michel
Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported
by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as the Greeks. The Greeks staged a selection race for the
Olympic marathon, and this first marathon was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes (with the future winner
of the introductory Olympic Games marathon coming in fifth). The winner of the first Olympic Marathon in 1896 (a male only
race) was Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier. He won at the Olympics in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds, despite
stopping on the way for a glass of wine from his uncle waiting near the village of Chalandri.
The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA).
Distance
The length of a marathon was not fixed at first, since the only important factor was that all athletes competed on the same
course. The marathon races in the first few Olympic Games were not of a set length, but were approximately 40 km, roughly the
distance from Marathon to Athens by the longer, flatter route. The exact length of the Olympic marathon varied depending on
the route established for each venue.
The marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London was set to measure about 25 miles (40 km) and to start on ‘The Long
Walk’ – a magnificent avenue leading up to Windsor Castle in the grounds of Windsor Great Park. The Princess of Wales
wanted her children to watch the start of the race, so the start of the race was moved to the east lawn of Windsor Castle, increasing
its length to 26 miles (42 km). The race was to finish at the Great White City Stadium in Shepherd's Bush in London; however,
Queen Alexandra insisted on having the best view of the finish; so, in the words of the official Olympic report, "385 yards
were run on the cinder track to the finish, below the Royal Box." The length then became 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards).
For the next Olympics in 1912, the length was changed to 40.2 km (24.98 miles) and changed again to 42.75 km (26.56 miles)
for the 1920 Olympics until it was fixed at the 1908 distance for the 1924 Olympics. In fact, of the first seven Olympic Games,
there were six different marathon distances between 40 km and 42.75 km (40 km being used twice).
Following the 1908 Olympics in London, an annual event called the Polytechnic Marathon had been instituted over the 1908
distance of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km), and it was largely due to the prestige of the Polytechnic Marathon that 42.195 km
was adopted as the official marathon distance in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) - Rule 240 of
their Competition Rules.
Olympic Traditions
Since the modern games were founded, it has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the
athletics calendar, with a finish inside the Olympic stadium, often within hours of, or even incorporated into, the closing ceremonies.
The marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics revived the long-established route from Marathon to Athens ending at
Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. ,
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