The 'ultimate test' is losing its fear factor

ATHLETICS:Rather than being the once fearsome test of human limitations, the marathon of today has become a sort of generic measure of human endurance

HOW MANY sporting events do you know which are celebrating their 2,500th anniversary this year? I’m not talking about mythical events, but one we know happened – or has at least some circumstantial evidence to suggest it did. It is, naturally, of athletics origin, and more specifically the long-distance run that first took place in Greece in 490 BC, and better known these days as the marathon.

Some sporting events pre-date this, but they’re mostly mythical. Hurling, for example, has been traced back to 1272 BC, when the Tuatha de Danann took on the Firbolgs. But do we really know that? The ancient Olympics have also been traced to 776 BC, though we don’t really know exactly what that entailed, and when they were eventually revived in 1896 they took on a whole new dimension.

The marathon of today, however, is essentially the same event as was staged in 490 BC, albeit under slightly different circumstances. Most of you know the story: the Persian army planned to invade Athens, and came ashore at the town of Marathon, about 25 miles north of the city. The Athenians were considerably outnumbered, and defeat there would have dramatically changed the course of Greek history – possibly have denied the world the wisdom of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

Before going into battle, the Athenians sent a messenger, Pheidippides, to seek help from the Spartans, 150 miles away. Deep in some religious festival, the Spartans couldn’t oblige. So Pheidippides ran straight back to Athens, encountering the god Pan along the way, who promised to help. With this blessing, perhaps, the Athenians managed to defeat the Persians in a vicious battle that spilled blood over all the plain of Marathon. With that, Pheidippides ran the 25 miles back to the city to announce their momentous victory, shouting nenikikamen (rejoice, we have conquered), before promptly dying, as well he might.

Okay, there’s a little bit of myth in there too, but when Baron de Coubertin had the vision of reviving the Olympic Games in 1896, the French historian, Michel Breál, presented the idea of re-enacting this ancient run from Marathon. The Greeks, moved by the presumed significance of such a race, agreed immediately – and the rest is distance running history. In fact, the success of the marathon event in 1896 effectively secured the future of the Olympics, and soon sparked a host of imitation races worldwide.

By chance, the Olympic marathon in London in 1908 was measured from the start, in Windsor Castle, to the finish, in front of the royal box inside the White City Stadium, at exactly 26 miles and 385 yards – and that’s been the standard distance since.

Rather than being the once fearsome test of human limitations, the marathon of today has become a sort of generic measure of human endurance. Much of the myth of the marathon distance has been broken, and no harm.

But this being a special marathon anniversary year, some people weren’t content to simply retrace the footsteps of Pheidippides. So last weekend, 440 runners entered the Spartathlon, which rather than retrace the run from Marathon to Athens, retraces Pheidippides’ run from Athens to Sparta. It’s a rough journey, 152.8 miles to be exact, traversing the Parthenio Mountains by night, in often severe conditions, hot and cold – and must be completed in 36 hours, which is more or less how long it took Pheidippides.

As it turned out, only 128 of the runners finished, and among them were Kildare’s John O’Regan and Belfast’s Eddie Gallen. Both men are ultra-marathon specialists (well used to such mental distances), but the race proved something of a killer nonetheless, although thankfully not in the 490 BC sense. Gallen, who is based in Spain and had competed in this year’s World 24-Hour Championship Run, finished 57th of the lot, in 33 hours and 51 minutes, with O’Regan not far behind in 67th, his 34:13 also safely inside the cut-off time.

“It was without doubt my toughest race ever,” said O’Regan, “and I must admit there were times that I was doubting myself. With over 100km to go I started to hallucinate and thoughts of defeat were starting to enter my head. It took a lot of mental strength to keep going.”

Imagine if Coubertin and Breál had decided to retrace the Athens to Sparta run in 1896, rather than Marathon to Athens? Would that mean 150-mile running would be the generic measure of human endurance? Perhaps so, although 26.2 miles is long enough for most people, including myself.

It’s also possible to retrace that original distance as part of the Athens Classic Marathon, which is staged next month, although, given the anniversary, all places are long booked out.

It used to be that even the half-marathon was a somewhat daunting distance, but recent evidence would suggest otherwise: almost 8,000 of us ran the 13.1 miles in the Phoenix Park two weeks ago as part of the countdown series to the Lifestyle Sports-adidas Dublin Marathon, which takes place as usual on the October Bank Holiday Monday. The Galway Bay half-marathon, which takes place today along the famous city coastline, has also attracted a large field, many of whom might once have fainted at the thought of running 13.1 miles.

I know some out there are still thinking the marathon is just a little too far, and may kill them, if not exactly in the Pheidippidian sense. But how often do you get to take part in a sporting event celebrating its 2,500th anniversary? Fear not the myth – but hurry up: entries for the Dublin Marathon close on Monday evening (www.dublinmarathon.ie) and even though it doesn’t run from Marathon to Athens, it’s essentially the same event as 490 BC.