Marathon, the Attica Town That Gave Its Name to the World’s Most Famous Race

by · Greek City Times

Every November, thousands of runners gather in a quiet town on the northeast coast of Attica to start the Athens Authentic Marathon. Few places of its size carry a name known in almost every language.

A plain shaped by history

Marathon lies about 40 kilometres northeast of central Athens, on a broad coastal plain between the mountains and the bay. In 490 BC, that plain became the battlefield where the Athenians and their Plataean allies defeated the invading army of Persian King Darius I.

Led by the general Miltiades, the outnumbered Greek hoplites broke both flanks of the Persian line and drove the invaders back to their ships. The victory ended the first Persian invasion of Greece and became a source of pride for Athens for generations.

Monuments you can still visit

The battle left marks on the landscape that can still be seen today.

Read more: The Battle of Marathon and the Run That Gave the World a Race

  • The Tomb of the Athenians (Soros): the burial mound raised over the 192 Athenians who fell in the battle. They were buried where they died, an honour rarely granted.
  • The Tomb of the Plataeans: a second mound near the village of Vrana, linked to the allies who stood with Athens.
  • The Archaeological Museum of Marathon: finds from the battlefield and the wider area, from prehistoric times to the Roman period.
  • The Marathon Run Museum: in the town itself, devoted to the history of the race from 1896 to today.

From battlefield to starting line

The link between the town and running comes from a later legend: a messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, and died after delivering the news. The ancient historian Herodotus does not tell this story. He describes a different feat, the runner Pheidippides covering about 240 kilometres to Sparta to ask for help before the battle.

The Marathon-to-Athens legend inspired the long-distance race at the first modern Olympics in 1896, won by Greek runner Spyridon Louis. Today’s Athens Authentic Marathon still starts in Marathon and finishes at the Panathenaic Stadium.

Marathon today

Marathon is now part of a wider municipality popular with Athenians for its beaches, including Schinias, one of the longest beaches in Attica. Nearby, the Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre hosted events at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Inland, Lake Marathon, the reservoir formed by the Marathon Dam completed in 1929, supplied Athens with water for decades.

For most visitors, though, the town’s draw is simple: standing on the plain where, in 490 BC, the course of Greek history changed.

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