the 28th athens classic marathon
The Athens Marathon is the most exciting marathon in the world, because it is the original marathon. And the 2010 run was the most historically poignant marathon yet as it marked 2,500 since Pheidippides dash from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.
No surprise, then, that the 28th Athens Classic Marathon attracted record numbers of participants from all over the world-nearly 22,000 people in all.
The full Marathon is run over the 42 kilometers from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens and it commemorates soldier Pheidippides famous run in 490. The story is the exhausted warrior carried the message of victory over the invading Persians safely to the Athenians before collapsing and dying from strain.
With that in mind, perhaps it is lucky that nowadays there are also 10 and 5 kilometer road courses!