Athens Marathon sprints to the finish line

The prestigious Forbes magazine has listed the Athens Marathon in the top European sporting events worth travelling to.

Other marathons noted on the Forbes list include those of international cities like Paris, London, Athens and Rome and iconic settings such as Bordeaux, Transylvania or Tuscany.

“For many people, there’s no better way to see a city or a town than by running through it,” Forbes’ contributor, Cecilia Rodriguez, says and underlines that running in a marathon also gives the opportunity to discover new destinations.

The “Athens Marathon. The Authentic” is a unique, international event, established as a remembrance of the ancient Marathon route and Greece’s first contemporary Olympic Games, which took place in 1896. More than 120 years have passed and the Athens Marathon remains a symbol of human will and strength, a celebration of solidarity among people.

The race in Greece was born as a true heroic event in 490 B.C. when a news-bearing foot soldier, Pheidippides, ran from Marathon to Athens to announce, before dying from exhaustion, the victory of Greece against Persia during the Marathon Battle.

The tough course of 42.1 kilometres, “a celebration of human will and strength” according to the Hellenic Athletics Federation that organises it, begins in the town of Marathon by the Aegean Sea on the ancient site of the legendary battle and curses up and down hills to end at the Panathenaic Stadium, the scene of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896,’’ adds Rodriguez in her article.

In its 35th year, the “Athens Marathon. The Authentic” in 2017 is expected to see over 53,000 runners from 50,000 last year. The event will be held on Sunday, November 12.