The first Modern Olympics and the Boston Marathon

In the first modern Olympics, 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations competed. 17 runners began the race at Marathon and only 9 finished at the newly constructed all marble Stadium that is close to the Acropolis.  Spyridon Louis a native of Greece with no prior running experience or training finished first.  He ran the 40 kilometers over dusty roads in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds.  The Greek public was overjoyed and when he arrived in the stadium the Greek Crown Prince accompanied him on his final lap.     

Louis would never again compete in a race, but his victory made him a national hero.

In the 1896 Athens Olympics, the United States was one of 9 nations that competed thanks to sponsorship of the athletes by the Boston Athletic Association.  The United States won 17 medals, to 10 for Greece, 3 for Hungary, 2 for Australia, France and United Kingdom, and 1 for Germany.

 

The first annual Boston Athletic Association marathon was conducted on April 19, 1897, the date chosen to commemorate the famous ride of Paul Revere in 1775.  Fifteen runners started the 24.5 mile race, which was lengthened to 26.2 miles in 1924, and ten finished. Two nations claim, John J McDermott, the athlete who won the first Boston Marathon.  He was either American from New York or Canadian from Nova Scotia.  He finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds.  The illustration that appeared on April 20, 1987 on the Globe depicts the race through the eyes of the artist.

 

In 1946, on the 50^th Boston Marathon another Greek, Stylianos Kyriakides, won the race at 2 hours, 29 minutes, 27 seconds.  According to a press release "The winner used his victory as a call to action to aid his war and famine-ravaged homeland. Kyriakides, who narrowly escaped execution during World War II, hadn't run in six years when he came to Boston in 1946, with the help of Greek-American benefactors (George and Spear Demeter). He was emaciated from the famine during the World War II Nazi occupation of Greece, and at one point was told by doctors in Boston he wouldn't be allowed to run because they were afraid he would die in the streets. That backdrop only added to the almost mythic race performance, in which he defeated the defending champion and set the best time in the world for 1946. Nearly a million people greeted him on his return to Athens in May 1946, when he came back with food, medicine, clothing and other essentials donated by Americans who wanted to help the war-ravaged Greece."

In 2013, two bombs exploded near the finish line at Copley Square in Boston.  This year Meb Keflezighi who came to the U.S. at age 12 from Eritrea became the first American since 1983 to win one of the most memorable victories in the Boston Marathon’s 118-year history.  With the backdrop of last year’s tragedy, and in front of those wounded and to commemorate the memory of those killed – Martin Richard, 8, Lingzi Lu, 23, Sean Collier, 27, Krystle Campbell, 29, - Keflezinghi raised his arm in victory when he crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds.  He then kissed the ground, took a bow, broke into tears and said, “I just used their energy” referring to the four killed and the many wounded a year ago. 

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.