How the Marathon was Born By: Prof. Mário Machado
If you go to Athens you should try and
EDP MARATONA DE LISBOA 2017
see if you can organize a big race from Maratona to the Pnyx. That could give impact to the character of Antiquity… I personally stay with the honour of giving the trophy to the marathon winner’ this was the most important historic part of the letter sent by Michel Bréal on the 15th of September of 1894. With these words was born what is now known as the most famous run of the official calendar of athleticism. But let’s go back a few months, more precisely the morning of the 23rd of 1894, when in Paris was established the guidelines of the Modern Olympic Games. The event was attended by 78 participants, that represented 9 countries and had the name of Congress of Foundation haven been discussed, even though superficially, the ideals proposed by the baron Pierre de Coubertin. Even though most of the attendees were French, 58 individuals, the majority from aristocracy. However Michel Bréal was not present during the labours he attended the banquet and had the honour of sitting next to Coubertin. After dinner, both talked about the necessity of having an pacifist competition in line with the old Games in antiquity.
But Who Was Bréal?
Born in Landau in 1832, today he recognized as the founder of the Marathon. He passed away in 1915 and his body rests in Paris, at Montparnasse Cemetery. Bréal was a specialist in Greek and Latin literature, and soon fell in love with the ideals of the Ancient Games and specially the bases that gave life to the legend of the battle of Marathon and the messenger Philipedes that may have passed away after announcing victory for the troupes 2400 years before. Breal ‘devoured’ everything he found about the story of that soldier and the implications of that battle fought in the plains of Marathon, in the year 492 AC. Impressed by the extraordinary distance he had to run (240Km in a day in a half),
he remembered that by existing an modern version of the Game there should also be an long race that symbolized something magnificent, as a bridge between the ancient roots and the new athletic purposes that were being developed. However historic versions proposed by Breal , said that the soldier had ran since the battle in Marathon to the city of Athens, a distance of 40 km. According to Bréal this race lasted for at least part of the day, in order to warn the tropes of an eventual attack by seashore. However these researches were based on stories from 600 years after the real events took place. So there were substantial doubts regarding what really happened specially the number of miles ran by the soldier. In 1890 with the help of his influence and economical power, Bréal got a team of archaeologists to dig the in the plains of Marathon. They encountered in the area bones of the former athletes as well as several artefacts used during that war.
A long race in Modern Games
At the time Pierre de Coubertin was weaving his idea of the Modern Games, Michel Bréal was also collecting data about the eventual innovation of the long race, in the last day of the first Olympic games trials.
winner will be the runner that arrives first at the stadium. Any athlete that disrupts the other runners, shortens the course or uses mobile transportation will be disqualified.
Unexpected Success
But which distance?
Several were the factors that contributed to the success of the Olympic Marathon. First the distance, to the public 40 Km seamed like an impossible accomplishment. Further more, the first athlete to enter the stadium was Greek, and it was the first win after four days to the Greeks.
The program of the first Games established a distance of 42 Km but later on the fourth and last day it was changed to 40 Km. Curiously this race had a few rules, ‘the marathon will happen from the region of Kifiassias to the Penethenikon. The distance is 40 Km. The Race starts at 13 hours and each runner will be followed by a judge.’ The
It’s no wonder that Demetrius Vikelas, President of the Olympic International Committee had sent a telegram to Michél Bréal reporting the race success declaring the Greek Spiridon, the winner. In a way the public success made the other athletes accomplishments less fantastic, even in the 70’s in Portugal people thought that a race so long was extraordinary. Some people even though that it was an inhuman ordeal and something not athletic.
But if its beginning is at the little village of Marathon then there would also be the site if the rest of the other events.
In the original story, 600 years before, it was mentioned that the distance was 40 Km, however it also mentioned 48 Km.
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