To commemorate the Battle of Marathon and the feat of Pheidippides, the marathon event was established at the first Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The race followed the route Pheidippides ran back then, from the village of Marathon to Athens, covering a distance of approximately 40 kilometers and 200 meters. The marathon also became the only Olympic event named after a geographical location.
In 1982, Greece hosted the Athens Classic Marathon for the first time. Its biggest selling point was recreating the route Pheidippides ran in 490 BC. The only modification was adding a loop around the Tomb of Marathon (where 192 soldiers who died in battle were buried) shortly after the start, to meet the International Association of Athletics Federations' requirement that a marathon must be 42.195 kilometers long.
That roughly 2-kilometer discrepancy became an irreplaceable regret in Haruki Murakami’s running career. In 1983, just becoming a runner, Murakami and some friends from a magazine came to Greece. He wanted to complete his first 42-kilometer run at the birthplace of the marathon. At the time, he chose to run alone from Athens back to Marathon, starting at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, which was also the main venue for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He completed this classic route in 3 hours and 51 minutes. However, “running along the road from Athens to Marathon still didn’t cover the full official marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers. It was about two kilometers short. A few years later, when I officially participated in the Athens Marathon and ran the original route from Marathon to Athens, I learned this fact.” Murakami described this in his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Yesterday, 55 Chinese runners participated in the “Athens Classic Marathon.” The finish line was at the Panathenaic Stadium (also known as the ancient marble stadium, or Panathinaiko Stadium), the site of the first Olympic Games in 1896 and the finish line of the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Haruki Murakami also completed a marathon on this classic route, making up for his earlier run that fell short of the full distance. Over the past thirty years, Murakami has run dozens of marathons, but he still fondly remembers the distance of his first marathon. Many runners surely feel the same.
The Greek Classic Marathon takes place on the second Sunday of November each year. This year marks the 31st edition. According to the organizers, the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS), participation has surged in recent years. “In 2010, there were 12,500 participants; in 2011, over 20,000; and this year, the number of registrants exceeded 30,000, with about 11,000 taking on the full marathon.” The scarcity of entry slots is also an unavoidable issue—registrations for the 5K and 10K races filled up as early as July, and spots for the full marathon are highly competitive. More and more runners want to make a spiritual and physical pilgrimage to the birthplace of the marathon. Seven and a half hours after the start yesterday, all 55 Chinese runners completed the race and received their medals, including team captain Peng Huizhen, who walked the final 4 kilometers with the help of staff due to a leg cramp.