FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Men's Course Record on Sunday is Not
The Only Sign of Upward Trend in Athens
By Andy Edwards
When Felix Kandie crossed the finish line in the Panathinaikon stadium to
break the course record on Sunday, the organising team of the Athens
Marathon had good reason already to be celebrating a successful culmination
to the 32nd edition of the Authentic Marathon.
Significant though the Kenyan's time of 2:10:37 was in removing the name of
the 2004 Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy from the record books,
this advance in terms of race quality among the elite was far from being
the only improvement in performance.
Put simply, the numbers of runners wanting to run the classic course from
Marathon to Athens are on the rise in a big way. This development led to a
record entry for Sunday's marathon of around 13,000 with approximately
35,000 in total competing in a variety of events including 5 and 10k. The
Athens Marathon rightly makes much of its status as the original marathon,
inspired by the legend of Pheidippides, but the organisers are also looking
forward to developing the race infrastructure to cope with greater numbers
in the future, rather than only looking back to the Battle of Marathon in
490 BCE.
Despite the country's economic problems in recent years, one trend which is
definitely upwards is interest in running of any kind and especially the
marathon. The Race Coordinator Makis Asimakopoulos says with a smile that:
"It seems as if every family in Greece contains a runner now, whether they
are doing shorter road races or a marathon. It's also very encouraging that
we have more foreign runners than ever. We have a 40 percent increase each
year and we believe there'll be 10,000 foreign runners competing within two
or three years. The rise has been matched by the Greek interest: nine years
ago we had 800 and this year we expect more than 8,000."
The organising team are well aware that the event infrastructure will have
to be further developed to cope with such growth. In basic terms such as
facilities at the start in Marathon to developing further the system of
wave starts since the current width of the course is unlikely to cope with
15,000 runners or more setting off at the same time, work needs to be done.
However, in what remain tough economic conditions for so many Greeks,
Kostas Panagopoulos, president of SEGAS, the Greek Athletics Federation,
sees the success of the marathon as a symbol of hope in challenging times:
"We have a very good team of professionals working on the marathon. Despite
the crisis we believe the marathon could even become an example for the
revival of Greece, the way we manage to work together: the State, local
authorities, army and police and everyone together - sometimes that's not
so easy in Greece!"
Whatever the claims for the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet,
Kostas Panagopoulos adds that: "The Marathon and running changes the way we
live, for example, eating habits, contributing to a healthier lifestyle and
I believe this is the main legacy of the marathon. Greek society has
developed an understanding for the marathon and a feeling that the marathon
is now part of their life."
The Race Coordinator Makis Asimakopoulos also reflects on the changes in
attitude to running and exercise in general:
"Greeks are now proud of their marathon. We see many more spectators lining
the streets as well as running for themselves. The charity aspect is
growing as well, with 500,000 Euros raised for charity by runners in the
marathon. But we know we have to work out possibilities to accommodate up
to 20,000 runners in terms of improved infrastructure."
Since 2011 the office of AIMS, the Association of International Marathons
and Distance Races, has been based in Athens. Aptly enough the address is
on Spiridon Louis Avenue, named after the Greek who won the first marathon
of the modern Olympic era in 1896 when he ran into the same Panathinaikon
stadium as did Felix Kandie to break the course record on Sunday.
It was fitting that Paco Borao, AIMS president and lifelong runner himself,
stood on the start line in Marathon on Sunday, ready to renew his devotion
to the classic distance after recovering from surgery from colon cancer six
years ago:
"This is the marathon that everyone has to run once in life - I have been
preaching this for a long time now."
And the last word should go to the man who made history in Berlin six weeks
ago, Dennis Kimetto. The Kenyan became the first to break 2:03 for the
marathon and, speaking in Athens on the eve of the race, said with his
usual quiet authority:
"Yes, I would like to run the Athens Marathon one day."
More information is available at: www.athensauthenticmarathon.gr
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