MARATHON TALKS – Legend has it that a messenger named Phillipides ran across the Peloponnese for help, then brought news of victory to Athens.

The second annual AIMS Marathon Symposium will be held in the town of Marathon, Greece, on November 8, the day before the Athens Classic Marathon, run on the traditional course, from Marathon to Athens.

The symposium, backed also by the IAAF and SEGAS, the Greek federation, was inaugurated last year by a new management committee for the Athens Classic Marathon, eager to upgrade the race to the status that its history deserves. The organisers have also arranged for a Marathon Flame, similar to the Olympic torch to be delivered around the world, something that several other major city races have already enjoyed.

Marathon has become such an integral word in most languages that its origins are not always obvious. It was in a field outside then then village of Marathon, some 36 kilometres from Athens that a famous battle was won by the Athenians against the Persians in 490BCE. Legend has it that a messenger named Phillipides ran across the Peloponnese for help, then brought news of victory to Athens. He allegedly expired after blurting out, ‘Rejoice, victory is ours”. When the inaugural Olympic Games were held in Athens 1896, the marathon race was born out of this legend.

The theme of this year’s symposium, opened by the Mayor of Marathon, and the Deputy Minister for the Interior will be ‘Adding Value To Your Marathon’. Last year’s inaugural symposium was attended by marathon luminaries, such as Abel Anton of Spain the 2004 Olympic winner in Athens, and Rosa Mota, winner of the first women’s championships marathon, the European race in Athens 1982.

The symposium attracted representatives from over 30 international marathons from around the globe.

Pat Butcher