The Athens Classic Marathon The Authentic is an annual marathon road race held in Athens, Greece, normally in early November (the second Sunday of November), since 1972. It also often serves as Greece's national marathon championships. The race attracted 43,000 competitors in 2015 of which 16,000 were for the 42.195 kilometre (26.2 mile) course, both numbers being an all-time record for the event. The rest of the runners competed in the concurrent 5 and 10 kilometres road races and the

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

contest. The marathon race and course is inspired by the Ancient Greek legend of Pheidippides, a messenger who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to bring news of the Greek victory over the Persians at the

Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination o ...

. Taking from the tradition of the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympi ...

, the race features the Marathon Flame, which is lit at the Tomb of the Battle of Marathon and carried to the stadium in Marathon before the beginning of each race.Butcher, Pat (2008-11-06)
Marathon talks, in Marathon

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. In addition, an international marathon symposium is held the day before the race. Greek competitors have traditionally been strong in the men's and women's competitions. However, East Africans and Japanese runners have increasingly become the dominant runners from 1999 onwards. The current course records are 2:10:37 hours for men, set by Felix Kandie in 2014, while Rasa Drazdauskaitė's run of 2:31:06 in 2010 is the quickest by a woman on the course.

History

The provenance of the competitive race is traced back to the Marathon race at the 1896 Olympics. A separate race from the town of Marathon to Athens was regularly held in April from 1955 to at least 1989. This unrelated race, known as the Athens Marathon, frequently served as the Greek championship race but it is now discontinued.Athens Marathon

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2008-08-18). Retrieved on 2009-11-08. The Athens Classic Marathon began in 1972 as a joint venture between the Greek tourist board and athletics association. In 1982, the organisers dedicated the race to

Grigoris Lambrakis Grigoris Lambrakis ( el, Γρηγόρης Λαμπράκης; 3 April 1912 – 27 May 1963) was a Greek politician, physician, track and field athlete, and member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens. A member of ...

, an athlete and

Member of the Greek Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

, whose murder in the 1960s has become an inspirational cause for advocates of human rights. The race came under the auspices of the current organisers and

SEGAS The Hellenic Athletics Federation (Greek: ; abbreviated SEGAS) is Greece's governing body for amateur sport. SEGAS was created in 1897 and has been the principal organiser of many international sporting competitions held in Greece. The associatio ...

in 1983 and has since become a major race, being awarded Gold Label Road Race status by the

.Nikitaridis, Michalis (2007-11-02)
Athens Classic Marathon celebrates 25th anniversary – PREVIEW

. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. The 1983 event was known as the Athens Peace Marathon and both a popular and elite level race featured for the first time that year. Since 1990, the Athens Classic Marathon has often served as the Greek national championships for the marathon event. Since 2007 the

Association of International Marathons and Distance Races The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership w ...

has organised an annual International Marathon Symposium in Marathon town the day prior to the race. The 2010 edition of the event was combined with the celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon.Drazdauskaite and Bett beat the heat to make history in Athens

(2010-10-31). Retrieved on 2010-10-31. As the 2500 anniversary was actually in 2011, this year was also celebrated as the anniversary run. In 2016, a refugee team competed in the concurrent 5 kilometre road race. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, with all registrants given the option of transferring their entry to 2021 or obtaining a full refund.

Course

The marathon course is based on the legend from which the race gained its name: Pheidippides, a messenger in

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, ran from the

to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians.Panagopoulos, Kostas (2009)
Editorial
. Athens Classic Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. It is perhaps the most difficult major marathon race: the course is uphill from the 10 km mark to the 31 km mark – the toughest uphill climb of any major marathon. The course begins in the town of Marathon, where it passes the tomb of the Athenian soldiers, and it traces a path near the coast through

Nea Makri Nea Makri ( el, Νέα Μάκρη) is a town in East Attica, Greece. Since the local government reform of 2011, it has been a municipal unit within the municipality of Marathon. The municipal unit has an area of 36.662 km2. It is part of th ...

. Following the steep rise, the course goes lightly downhill towards the city of Athens.Butcher, Pat (2009-11-08)
Ngetich, Ozaki prevail in ‘Battle of Marathon’ – Athens Marathon report

. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. It passes a statue of a runner (''Ο Δρομέας'') in the city centre before finishing up at the Panathinaiko Stadium;Nikitaridis, Michalis (2006-11-05)
Tarus and Ogushi secure Athens Classic Marathon victories

. Retrieved on 2009-11-08. a site for athletics competitions in ancient times and the finishing point for both the 1896 and 2004 Olympic marathons.

Past winners

Statue of Pheidippides along the Marathon Road

Key:

Statistics

Winners by country

Multiple winners

Attendance

References

;General
Athens Classic Marathon

(2008-11-27). Retrieved on 2009-11-08. ;Specific

External links

Official websiteOfficial MerchandiseMarathon Course Profile
{{IAAF Gold Label Marathons in Greece Classic Marathon Recurring sporting events established in 1972 Battle of Marathon Autumn events in Greece Athletics in Athens 1972 establishments in Greece