FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Athens Marathon enjoys record participation levels despite Greek Crisis
ATHENS GREECE, November 5, 2015 "The Athens Marathon. The Authentic" is
synonymous with the marathon. This was where the history of the competition
over the classic distance began in the first Olympic Games of the modern
era in 1896. The Athens Marathon stands for something different these days,
however: amidst extreme financial difficulties for the Greek nation and
people, "The Athens Marathon. The Authentic" is a Greek success story, much
to the delight of participants, spectators and organisers alike. The race
over the original marathon course from the coastal town of Marathon to the
Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens has attracted a record number of
participants this year with 16,000 entered for Sunday's race. This
represents an increase of almost 25% in respect of last year. Taking into
account those taking part in shorter distance races held in conjunction
with the marathon, more than 43,000 runners have registered. The race
organisers, the Greek Athletics Federation (SEGAS) have had to forego the
international elite aspect of the race because of the economic situation so
for the first time in 15 years there is the strong possibility of a Greek
winner in the Athens Marathon on Sunday.
"This is the first time that we have organised the marathon with capital
controls in operation," explained Kostas Panagopoulos, the president of
SEGAS, the Greek Athletics Federation. "We faced enormous problems in
preparation for the race, especially in June and July. But we overcame them
and have achieved our goal which was to ensure the Athens Marathon remained
a running event with global significance."
Kostas Panagopoulos also confirmed that the organisers want to re-instate
an international elite field for next year's race in Athens. "This year we
had to make economies and that's why we dropped the elite field and,
instead, organised a marathon which concentrates on mass runners with the
motto, "Marathon in Solidarity with Greece." We want to continue with what
we had been doing, however, and bring top athletes to the start line in
2016," added the SEGAS president who confessed his surprise at the record
entry. "We were worried that foreign runners would be scared off by the
situation in Greece but the opposite turned out to be the case, the
participation of foreign runners has risen by around 30%."
"The Athens Marathon. The Authentic" seems to be exerting an increasing
attraction for foreign runners as a road running experience, thanks to its
unique link with history.
The leading Greek runners may well be able to take full advantage of this
year's unusual circumstances on Sunday. For the first time since 2000,
prospects of a home winner are high. 15 years ago Nikolaos Polias and
Yeoryia Abatzidou were the men's and women's winners with 2:20:50 and
2:53:00 respectively. On Sunday Dimitris Theodorakakos and Ourania Rebouli
will be among the favourites. "Running a marathon is inspiring and that's
why the running movement will get bigger," said the 36-year-old
Theodorakakos, who has a personal best of 2:19:20. He is a hardened veteran
of the event and Sunday's race will be his 14th marathon. In contrast,
Ourania Rebouli is a newcomer, having made her debut at the distance on
this tough course last year and finished in 2:51:23. At the end of
September the 26-year-old improved by a big margin to run 2:39:52 in Berlin
and finish inside the Greek Federation's Olympic qualifying time. "You not
only need great endurance but also mental strength in a marathon. I'm
looking forward to the race in Athens. It's a marathon with such
significance," explained Rebouli. On such a course it will be asking a
great deal to run a marathon relatively soon after her race in Berlin.
While the 2015 AIMS Best Marathon Runner of the Year Awards will be
presented at the annual gala in Athens on Friday evening, the following day
the 9th AIMS Marathon Symposium will take place, bringing together race
organisers from around the world. The overall theme will be: "The Threat
Doping poses to Distance Running." Four speakers will make presentations
and they are: Kyle Barber, responsible for Anti-Doping procedure at the
IAAF, the former world class marathoner from Britain, Hugh Jones, who will
speak from the elite athlete's perspective and Mark Milde, race director of
the Berlin Marathon, on that of a major race organiser. Lastly, Yiannis
Pitsiladis, professor at the University of Brighton in the UK, will give
his views on the subject from the sports medicine and scientific
standpoint. He is active in the SUB2 Marathon Project in the cause of elite
sport free of performance enhancing drugs.
Further information can be found at: www.athensauthenticmarathon.gr
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