Marathon Rating:
THE RACE:
Today, in practically every language around the globe, the word “marathon” is synonymous with a 26.2 mile (42.195 km) road race. But of course, the word is taken from the name of a real town in Greece, and the origin of the race, which was developed for the first modern Olympic games in Athens in 1896, was meant to recall the route traversed from Marathon to Athens by the messenger Pheidippides in 490 B.C. announcing the Greek’s victory over the powerful Persians. In ancient Greek history, this was a defining moment that supposedly kicked off Athens’ classic Golden Age, so the 1896 Olympics organizers were keen to grab onto it as a validating link to the modern athletic event they were promoting. Never mind that in the story, Pheidippides dropped dead from exhaustion soon after delivering the news in Athens. That part is not really relevant, I guess, although I can’t tell you how often otherwise well-intentioned people have recited that ending to me in some cautionary way, as though it offers a “moral” to the story!
Meanwhile, the uniqueness of the current Athens Marathon is that it traces the same route that our historical hero ran long ago from the town of Marathon up into the great City of Athens. More practically speaking, it’s also the same route run by the athletes in the first Olympic Games. As part of both lines of heritage, marathon participants today enter the city and finish in the very stadium built for those first Olympics. Yet, no matter where exactly Pheidippides ran 2,500 years ago or what course the first Olympic athletes raced on almost 125 years ago, in all cases, Athens has this topic well-covered and unchallenged. Just as the race’s official name is marketed as the “Athens Authentic” Marathon, its organizers like to frequently, and justifiably, remind us that anything at all to do with the very idea of a marathon happened here and happened here first.
This one-of-kind, you can’t-do-this-anywhere-else claim not only makes the race a bucket list item for marathon runners worldwide (it draws quite an international field of participants similar to, in some ways, the way that the Boston Marathon does), it also imparts a unique connection between runners – er…make that human beings – of the past and some of the most basic experiences we still share with them today. Arguably, running a marathon 2,500 years ago took some effort (so much so that it killed the poor guy). Likewise, running a marathon 125 years ago was something that the first Olympic organizers knew would be unusual and newsworthy enough to attract spectators to the newly-minted games. So, too, the participants in today’s Athens Marathon are following in the footsteps of those earlier runners, and experiencing as part of that ritual some of what those earlier folks experienced, too.
But besides all of that, let’s be clear: the Athens Marathon is legitimately a great event by any measure, full of beautiful scenery, great crowds, and top-notch organization. Though the race runs mostly uphill to the consternation of some, it also offers runners a building sense of excitement as they progress from the small oceanside town of Marathon (which is still today quite mountainous and rural), step by step, mile by mile, steadily climbing up into the great, pulsing metropolis that is Athens.
THE PLACE:
As for Athens itself, I find it to be an extraordinary — albeit often underrated — place. I’ve heard so many travelers complain that they were disappointed with their time in Athens. But often I would later discover that they approached the city entirely in the wrong way, either by tacking it on last-minute, as a side trip en route to some fabulous Greek island vacation, or as part of a hurried port-of-call excursion during a connect-the-dots Mediterranean cruise. But I think this view is often unfair, and some of those travelers have missed out.
No city, especially an ancient, multi-layered city like Athens with its narrow lanes, modern-day traffic jams, and an abundance of international icons that every tourist jostles in front of to take a selfie, can show itself very well under its worst, high-season conditions, especially as the majority of those tourists show up at the same time in the overcrowded summer months (a time in which Athens, I am told, can be really hot, dirty, and not especially populated by the Athenians who escape the chaos by hightailing it out to one of Greece’s 6,000 islands.)
But what’s nice about the Athens Marathon is that, instead, it takes place in mid-November. Athens at that time of the year is quiet and lovely, with mild weather and clear skies. The crowds are gone, the locals are back, the stores and streets and universities are full of people, all doing the kinds of things that other Europeans do in their cities… It is, in short, a city full of vibrant street life, impressive buildings, great museums, and wonderful food and drink.
Make sure to do some reading ahead of time to do it right, and treat Athens as the impressive miracle that it is, not only for the gifts and accomplishments bestowed on us by its ancient, enlightened societies, but for its sheer ability to survive and thrive throughout the millennia as a real place.
In fact, if you give yourself a few days before the race to explore, this is the kind of destination in which you want to make sure you are led by a real tour guide, preferably an educated academic. If you really want to imagine what life was like in Ancient Greece, if you want to experience the majesty of the Acropolis and the democratic ideals first expressed in the Forum, or even if you’d like to understand Modern Athen’s history, its food markets, or its economic woes, this is definitely not the place to try some “free” tour being hawked in the street by a college kid for tips. My best recommendation is to try out something from the menu of Context Travel’s docent-led tours (https://www.contexttravel.com), or Despina Savvidou’s Athens Walking Tours (http://www.athenswalkingtours.gr). I enjoyed tours with both, thus learning a lot and avoiding the kinds of kitschy tourist traps (see my Edinburgh trip review) by which Athens, for those who don’t simply want to “check the box”, can otherwise be exploited.
