Athens Classic Marathon

The Athens Classic (authentic) Marathon is an annual marathon road race held in Athens, Greece, normally in early November. The race attracted around 30,000 competitors in 2013, including the concurrent 5 and 10 kilometres road races and the racewalking contest.^[1][2]

The marathon course is based on the myth from which the race gained its name: Pheidippides, a messenger in Ancient Greece, ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory over the Persians.^[3] The provenance of the competitive race is traced back to the Marathon race at the 1896 Olympics.^[4] The Athens Classic Marathon began in 1972 as a joint venture between the Greek tourist board and athletics association.^[5] The race came under the auspices of the current organisers and SEGAS in 1983 and has since become a major race, being awarded Gold Label Road Race status by the IAAF.^[6][7]

It is perhaps one of the most difficult major marathon races: the course is uphill from the 10 km mark to the 31 km mark – the toughest uphill climb of any major marathon.^[8] The course begins in the town of Marathon, where it passes the tomb of the Athenian soldiers, and it traces a path near the coast through Nea Makri. Following the steep rise, the course goes lightly downhill towards the city of Athens.^[9] It passes a statue of a runner (Ο Δρομέας) in the city centre before finishing up at the Panathinaiko Stadium;^[10] a site for athletics competitions in ancient times and the finishing point for both the 1896 and 2004 Olympic marathons.^[9]

In 1982, the organisers dedicated the race to Grigoris Lambrakis, an athlete and Member of the Greek Parliament, whose murder in the 1960s has become an inspirational cause for advocates of human rights.^[3] Since 2007 the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races has organised an annual International Marathon Symposium in Marathon town the day prior to the race. Taking from the tradition of the Olympic Torch, the race features the Marathon Flame, which is lit at the Tomb of the Battle of Marathon and carried to the stadium in Marathon before the beginning of each race.^[11] The 2010 edition of the event was combined with the celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon.^[12]

Greek competitors have traditionally been strong in the men's and women's competitions. However, East Africans and Japanese runners have increasingly become the dominant runners from 1999 onwards.^[13] Since 1990, the Athens Classic Marathon has often served as the Greek national championships for the marathon event.^[6][14] The current course records are 2:10:37 hours for men, set by Felix Kandie in 2014, while Rasa Drazdauskaitė's run of 2:31:06 in 2010 is the quickest by a woman on the course.^[12]

Past winners

A statue of Pheidippides on the route from Marathon to Athens

Burton Holmes' photograph entitled "1896: Three athletes in training for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens". The 1896 Olympic Marathon was the precursor to the Athens Classic Marathon.

Runners competing in the 1980 Athens Marathon, won by Jean-Paul Didim

Key:       Course record       Greek championship race

Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)	Women's winner	Time (h:m:s)
2014	Felix Kandie (KEN)	2:10:37	Naomi Maiyo  (KEN)	2:41:06
2013	Hillary Yego (KEN)	2:13:51	Nancy Joan Rotich (KEN)	2:41:32
2012	Raymond Bett (KEN)	2:11:35	Consalater Yadaa (KEN)	2:40:00
2011	Abdelkrim Boubker (MAR)	2:11:40	Elfeneshe Melkamu (ETH)	2:35:25
2010	Raymond Bett (KEN)	2:12:40	Rasa Drazdauskaitė (LTU)	2:31:06
2009	Josephat Ngetich (KEN)	2:13:44	Akemi Ozaki (JPN)	2:39:56
2008	Paul Lekuraa (KEN)	2:12:42	Mai Tagami (JPN)	2:36:58
2007	Benjamin Korir (KEN)	2:14:40	Svetlana Ponomarenko (RUS)	2:33:19
2006	Henry Tarus (KEN)	2:17:46	Chikako Ogushi (JPN)	2:40:45
2005	James Saina (KEN)	2:16:15	Sisay Measo (ETH)	2:38:39
2004	Frederick Cherono (KEN)	2:15:28	Alemu Zinash (ETH)	2:41:11
2003	Zebedayo Bayo (TAN)	2:16:59	Nadezhda Wijenberg (NED)	2:43:18
2002	Mark Saina (KEN)	2:18:20	Sonja Oberem (GER)	2:37:29
2001	Noah Bor (KEN)	2:19:26	Sonja Oberem (GER)	2:36:15
2000	Nikolaos Polias (GRE)	2:20:50	Yeoryía Abatzídou (GRE)	2:53:00
1999	Masato Yonehara (JPN)	2:18:35	Tamaki Okuno (JPN)	2:46:46
1998	Nikolaos Polias (GRE)	2:18:38	Joy Smith (USA)	2:50:52
1997	Gerasimos Kokotos (GRE)	2:31:47	Melissa Hurta (USA)	2:54:43
1996	Nikitas Markakis (GRE)	2:33:15	Panagiota Petropoulou (GRE)	2:56:42
1995	Nikolaos Polias (GRE)	2:27:27	Panagiota Nikolakopoulou (GRE)	2:59:45
1994	Christos Dumas (GRE)	2:27:27	Kleri Stavropoulou (GRE)	3:21:32
1993	Nikolaos Polias (GRE)	2:28:12	Panagiota Petropoulou (GRE)	3:15:56
1992	Christos Dumas (GRE)	2:31:15	Reiko Hirosawa (JPN)	3:05:24
1991	Theodoros Fotopoulos (GRE)	2:28:18	Sofia Sotiriadou (GRE)	2:59:29
1990	Johan Engholm (SWE)	2:26:33	Prudence Taylor (NZL)	2:59:15
1989	Jan van Rijthoven (NED)	2:23:19	Leslie Lewis (USA)	2:37:42
1988	Fedor Ryzhov (URS)	2:17:33	Magdalini Poulimenou (GRE)	2:50:59
1987	Kevin Flanegan (RSA)	2:25:14	Irina Bogachova (URS)	2:43:37
1986	Jos vander Water (BEL)	2:27:22	Signe Ward (NOR)	3:06:58
1985	Michael Hill (SWE)	2:26:20	Eryl Davies (GBR)	3:04:30
1984	Leon Swanepoel (RSA)	2:28:53	Barbara Balzer (USA)	2:58:30
1983	Martin J. McCarthy (GBR)	2:25:34	Hanne Jensen (DEN)	3:20:33
1982	Rick Callison (USA)	2:27:29	Ella Grimm (DEN)	3:07:41
1981	Yiannis Kouros (GRE)	2:32:50	Britta Sorensen (DEN)	3:16:00
1980	Jean-Paul Didim (FRA)	2:34:32	Arlene Volmer (USA)	3:17:07
1979	Richard Belk (GBR)	2:31:21	Gaby Birrer (SUI)	3:34:21
1978	Danny Flynn (AUS)	2:27:22	Alexandra Fili (GRE)	4:47:00
1977	Kebede Balcha (ETH)	2:14:40.8	Christina Johansson (SWE)	3:05:53
1976	Edgar Friedli (SUI)	2:33:50	Melissa Hendriksen (USA)	3:35:45
1975	Teofanis Tsimingatos (GRE)	2:35:39	Corrie Konings (NED)	3:16:13
1974	Teofanis Tsimingatos (GRE)	2:29:31	Eva-Maria Westphal (GER)	3:55:56
1973	Jouko Kuha (FIN)	2:32:26	No women's race
1972	Yiannis Virvilis (GRE)	2:26:26	No women's race

Statistics

Winners by country Country Men's race Women's race Total  Greece 13 8 21  Kenya 10 1 11  United States 1 6 7  Japan 1 5 6  Denmark 0 3 3  Ethiopia 1 3 4  Germany 0 3 3  Netherlands 1 2 3  South Africa 2 0 2  Soviet Union 1 1 2  Sweden 2 1 3   Switzerland 1 1 2  United Kingdom 1 1 2  Australia 1 0 1  Belgium 1 0 1  France 1 0 1  Morocco 1 0 1  Lithuania 0 1 1  Norway 0 1 1  New Zealand 0 1 1  Russia 0 1 1  Tanzania 1 0 1  Finland 1 0 1

Multiple winners Athlete Country Wins Years Teofanis Tsimingatos  Greece 2 1974, 1975 Christos Dumas  Greece 2 1992, 1994 Nikolaos Polias  Greece 4 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000 Panagiota Petropoulou  Greece 2 1993, 1996 Sonja Oberem  Germany 2 2001, 2002 Raymond Bett  Kenya 2 2010, 2012

Notes

• A separate race from the town of Marathon to Athens was regularly held in April between 1955 and 1997. This unrelated race, known as the Athens Marathon, frequently served as the Greek championship race but it is now discontinued.^[15]

References

General

• Athens Classic Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2008-11-27). Retrieved on 2009-11-08.

Specific

External links

• Official website
• Official Merchandise

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