You might think the word “marathon” in the Greek language means “big run” or at least has something to do with athletics. You will be surprised to learn that it means “fennel,” as in the aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean. In 490 BC the Greeks and Persians were battling in a field of fennel, the plains of marathon. Today that battlefield is located in the modern Greek town of Marathon.
In the fifth century BC the Persians were the superpower of their day and Ionia in what is now western Turkey was one of many subjugated territories under the Persian Empire. When the Ionians rebelled the Athenians came to the aid of their fellow Greeks. The Ionian rebellion was crushed, but the Persians were not satisfied. Out of revenge and a determination to expand their domain, the Persian fleet landed in the bay of Marathon with the goal of subduing the impudent Greeks.
During a five-day stalemate the Athenian General Miltiades dispatched a professional runner named Phidippides to Sparta for reinforcements. Phidippides ran the 150 mile distance in two days. The superstitious Spartans, however, would not leave their homes during a full moon. The Athenians, however, could not wait and, although far outnumbered, they attacked the Persians anyway. Amazingly, the Greeks defeated the Persian infantry and forced the fleet to return to Asia.
Legend has it that forty-year-old Phidippides ran from Marathon to Athens, 25 miles, to announce the victory over the Persians and then collapsed and died. This story makes for good modern marathon marketing material but historians discredit it for various reasons, including that Phidippides’ supposed feat was not recorded until 500 years after the battle.
Had there been newspapers in those days, the rout of the Persians at Marathon would have made banner headlines accompanied by triumphant op-eds. The battle was a watershed moment in history as it demonstrated that the Persians were not invincible and could be beaten by an underdog. This Greek victory during the first Persian invasion eventually led to Greece wholly supplanting Persia as a world power which, in turn, enabled Greece to midwife the birth and rise of Western Civilization
The marathon as a race event took place at the first modern Olympics in April, 1898 in Athens on the same route that Phidippides ran. Poetically, the first marathon winner was a twenty-five year old Greek water carrier named Spyridon "Spyros" Louis. Despite stopping en route to enjoy a glass of wine, he bested sixteen other candidates to win in two hours, fifty-eight minutes and fifty seconds.
The first Marathon was 25 miles (40 kilometers) which is roughly the distance from Marathon to Athens but subsequent Marathons varied in mileage. Finally, during the 1924 Olympics the distance was officially set and has remained ever since at 26.22 miles (42.195 kilometers).
Inspired by the 1896 Olympics, Boston inaugurated a Marathon race in 1897 that remains the oldest annual marathon in the world. Nowadays there are over 800 Marathons held in such exotic locales as the Great Wall of China and the North Pole in Antarctica.
No destination, however, can match the historic glory of the Athens Classic Marathon. Runners who run from the heart, as most do, regard the Marathon race in Greece as the true and ultimate competition.
If you are eager for a double dose of Greek history you can run the annual Ultra-Marathon known as the Spartathalon, retracing Phidippides’ 150 mile route from Athens to Sparta.