Athens - Team RiceCracker

We travel to Greece and run The Original Marathon.

Ate at Spondi, but we were just about the only ones there. Everyone in Greece ate dinner much later than us. It was downright comical. We would show up for dinner around 7 or 8 and the restaurant would be just opening with not a soul in sight.

Marathon Fun Facts

The marathon was only 40KM, or almost 25 miles until the 1908 Olympic games extended it to the modern distance of 26.2 miles. The change was allegedly to accommodate a request from “queen” Alexandra. Pish.

The story that Pheidippides died upon reaching Athens may or not be true. It is, however, important to remember Pheidippides was a messenger by profession. He had run all over hill and dale that week, covering some 300 miles in 4 days. It was after he had already run to Sparta and back that he then ran the additional 25 miles we often hear about. Even if it did kill him, let’s give him some credit or what he did.

Race Report: Athens Marathon, The Authentic

Easily the coolest marathon you can run. If you get the chance to run this marathon, I highly recommend it. It is hard to explain how fun this race is. This follows (more or less) the original route Pheidippides took from Marathon to Athens.

The course is exposed and fairly hot. The route is a general uphill slog with a few sections that are fairly steep. With about 1/4 of the race to go it finally breaks for a more downhill slope. It is a road race through somewhat rural Greece. On paper, this seems like it wouldn’t be a great race. I can’t overstate how amazing the crowds in Greece were. All along the entire course, people lined the streets, shouting “Bravo! Bravo! Curre! Curre!” So much fun.