The Battle of Marathon and the Race it Inspired

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece.  It was fought by the citizens of Athens, aided by few citizens of Plataea, against the forces of the King Darius I. 

The Persian force sailed to Attica, landing in the bay near the town of Marathon. The Athenians, despite having a smaller force, proved devastatingly effective against the Persian infantry.  The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars. Since the following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, it is considered as a pivotal moment in European history and western civilization. 

The Battle of Marathon is also known as the inspiration for the Marathon race.   Legend has it that Pheidippides or Philippides (Greek: Φειδιππίδης), a Greek hoplite, at the completion of the battle run to Athens in full gear and announced the victory with a single word “Νενικηκαμεν» which means we won.  Historians tell us that upon uttering the words ”we won” he died succumbing to exhaustion. The Athenian soldier before his legendary run, he also completed a two-day run to Sparta to seek help against the invading Persians.  That ultra-marathon is also commemorated with a 153 mile annual race from Athens to Sparta called Spartathon. 

Pheidippides’ run was re-enacted as an athletic event and introduced in the first modern Olympic games, in Athens Greece.  Acropolis seen in this picture from the Stadium was likely the site where Pheidippides ended his celebrated run.  The modern's race finish line is in the all marble Stadium built for the first Olympics in 1896.

Train trip ..... part II

The modern version of the California Zephyr train left promptly at 9:22am from Emeryville and after running along San Francisco’s bay reached Davis and soon after Sacramento, Golden State’s capital city.  

We then started the climb of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Their name in Spanish means snow covered (“sierra” for mountain and “nevada” for snow covered). We went thru forests and alpine lakes and reached Reno at 4:06pm.  We had lunch with two train enthusiasts.  Steve was from Iowa and knew a lot about trains.  Barbara was from Ithaca, NY and told us about her daughter an ultra-marathoner who like Forrest Gump is always running.  I asked her to suggest to her daughter to run the Spartathlon, the 153 miles or 246 kilometers ultra marathon from Athens to Sparta in Greece.  The Spartathlon commemorates the run of Pheidippides, who in 490 BC, before the battle of Marathon was sent to Sparta by the Athenians to seek help.  According to Herodotus he arrived at Sparta the day after his departure from Athens!  After his return to Athens presumably by running, Pheidippides fought in Marathon and when the battle was over he ran the 26 miles back to Athens and announced the victory of the Athenians over the Persians.  The story has it that after he said “νενικηκαμεν» that means we won, he died.

After lunch we moved to the observation car that because of its many windows allows for panoramic views of the landscape.  After we left Colfax we saw the American River Canyon and its river.  Gold miners and prospectors mined the river for gold and some struck it rich.  At this point we were at 1,500 feet above the river and the view was stunning.  The train continued its climb over the Sierra Nevada.  This is where tunnel No1 was dug up thru the toughest granite on earth.  The workers worked 24 hours a day and managed to dig approximately 6 inches a day as they did not have power tools. While on the Sierra we saw several passes the early settlers had to negotiate on their way to California.  At the Emigrant Gap the cliffs are so steep that the 1840s pioneers had to lower their horses and wagons and themselves with ropes in order to continue towards California.

We went then by Yuba gap where in 1952 the eastbound train became trapped and immobilized by the snow. The train its 158 passengers became hostages of the blizzard for four days. The National Guard played a major role in their rescue.  Interestingly our train had to stop at the same point because the tracks or ties ahead had become loose and had to be fixed.   We then traveled towards the Donner Pass where the Donner Party was stranded.  They were trapped by heavy snowfall and difficult terrain in the winter 1846-47 and allegedly some practiced cannibalism in order to survive. 

After Reno we started on our crossing of the Nevada Desert had dinner and went to sleep.  Sleeping on the train is an interesting experience.  Some of the passengers dislike it because of the continuous rattling while others like it.  It reminded me of sleeping in a sailboat where the motion is endless but soothing.