The marathon. A great athletic event that is a culmination of months of training, special dedication and discipline, and aches, pains and blisters. This weekend the 36th Madrid Marathon was held and with 22, 614 finishers (29,000 participants were registered) Madrid rivals the world’s oldest marathon in Boston with 30,000 participants. There were four different race categories: marathon, half marathon, 10k, and hand bike marathon.
The marathon covers 42,196kms all through Madrid’s most famous avenues, neighborhoods, and parks. I’ve always wondered how they came up with the specific distance and for the answer we need to go to ancient Greece. The Greek soldier Pheidippides was a fighter and a messenger and as soon as the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) was won against the Persians he ran from Marathon to Athens to share the good news. Though, thankfully, unlike most marathon participants yesterday, Pheidippides gave the victory news and then collapsed and died.
The marathon covers 42,196kms all through Madrid’s most famous avenues, neighborhoods, and parks. I’ve always wondered how they came up with the specific distance and for the answer we need to go to ancient Greece. The Greek soldier Pheidippides was a fighter and a messenger and as soon as the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) was won against the Persians he ran from Marathon to Athens to share the good news. Though, thankfully, unlike most marathon participants yesterday, Pheidippides gave the victory news and then collapsed and died.