Athens Marathon

"But babe ... it's the twenty-five HUNDREDTH anniversary. When else in my life will I ever have a chance to participate in the 2500th anniversary of anything??"

And of course, to that question, he had no choice but to say "Well, okay then. We can go. But only if we can stop in Bordeaux on the way home". Twist my arm.

In 490 B.C. (as many of you will know ... but for those not paying attention in 8th grade World History) the Greeks fought the Persians in the Battle of Marathon and had an incredible victory, as the Persian Army was much larger than the Greeks'. To announce the result, a particularly ambitious foot-soldier, Phillipides, ran from the battle site to the city of Athens to share the news. Upon completing the grueling 24.85 (40k) journey, he exclaimed, " Νενικήκαμεν " ("We have won"), then immediately dropped dead.

The very first Olympic Games, held in Greece in 1896, crowned a hometown winner in the 40k Marathon race, a runner named Spyridon Louis, with a time of 2:58:50.

In 1908, the Olympic Games were held in London. Although each of the previous marathons had been 40k in length, it suited the King to have the race start upon his doorstep, Windsor Castle, and finish in the newly built White City Stadium, 42k (26.2 miles away). Imagine ... a stubborn Brit demanding that the world follow his ways ...

So to accommodate the modern-day marathon distance, the 2010 Athens Marathon organizers followed Phillipides's original route, but added a little out & back circle around Marathon Tomb to make up the additional 2k.

History lessons aside ...

Arrival into Greece was non-dramatic, save the brief panic (and asthma) attack in Toronto as we nearly missed our connection. Managed to make it into Athens city center and to the hotel (the first of Becky's excellent reco's!) easily. Thank goodness the King also convinced the rest of the world to learn English.

Greece was so happy to have us there. The shopkeeper across the road who took a personal interest in ensuring that I not only found the soya milk I was looking for, but also that I found a flavor I liked, said to me as I left "How nice it is to have all these athletes visiting us in Athens. Thank you for coming."

After ordering espressos at a cafe the next afternoon, the woman from the next table came over to ask if we had been waited on yet and if not she would be happy to fetch the waitress for us. When our food arrived, the nice lady stopped by again to make sure we liked the Greek salad; it was their local specialty, she told us.

Expo ...

Pick up my bib number and see that I've been placed in corral 6. Out of 7. Hmpf. This is not good. The woman at the "resolutions" desk informs me that I have not entered a finishing time on my application and therefore I am in the last running corral (corral 7 was for the walkers). She was not at all interested in my explanation, nor my pleading to have the corral changed. If I wanted to run, I would start in the corral I was assigned. Well ... ok then.

By the way, have I mentioned the expo was located in Zappeion Hall - the location of the fencing competition of the 1896 Olympic Games and an incredibly beautiful and grand building!

So Greece is a somewhat chaotic country, particularly to someone who grew up in the US and spent the past few years in the UK. Queues? Street signs? I'm fairly certain these words don't translate into Greek. The one who shouts, beeps, whistles, or honks the loudest - wins. And so was the case boarding the buses at 5:30am at Syntagma Square. I managed to board a bus with a group of Italians, and sat next to a sweet girl, Kie, from Texas.

The start at Marathon was buzzing with excited chaos, too! Runners everywhere, a man hollering instructions into a mega-phone every few minutes, funky Greek music over the sound system, a group of protesters convinced that if we didn't sign their petition, the local government would turn the Marathon start line into a landfill ...

The Olympic Cauldron was lit (photo kudos to Kie's friend, Mark)...

...and after waiting in line for a pic we had barely enough time to get to the corrals.

My corral start was :16 min behind the gun, and I could feel the sun getting stronger by the minute ("very pure" as one of the locals had described it). Now, I'm wishing I had left my gloves behind and brought the sunscreen instead!

First 10 k ... it's all about getting around/through/over everyone in my corral. Ahhh .. a little breathing space, then I catch up to corral 5 and it begins again. Keep telling myself to chill out, just relax and take it slow since the streets were so narrow this was really the only option.

Once I got myself comfortable with the idea of running for FUN, not for a time, I really started to enjoy it. Listening to a thousand different languages from the other runners, I especially liked the universal "Bravo" from spectators all along the way. (They also seemed to shout "Bella!" a lot which I thought was directed at everyone but conversations with other runners after the race make me think this might have been a result of my pink tank top or perhaps the pigtail braids?)

Hey there's a Serpie! Hello Serpie!

8k ... a woman hands me a small olive tree branch which I graciously accept and tuck into my hair.

11k ... course starts going uphill a bit. Not too bad. Still feeling good and taking it all in.

Water stops ... more chaos. We were generously given full half-liter bottles of water, though most of us had a few swigs then tossed the bottles to the side due to a lack of trash receptacles of any sort. The goal becomes getting to the end of the water stop zone without taking a slip on the bottles all over the ground!

19k ... now the hills really kick in. And I know from the elevation map that this hill doesn't end until km 32.5. Here we go!

Somewhere along the way I pass Pat's friend Janet. Always fun to run into fellow Californians 7,000 miles from home!

Temperature check on a bank clock: 30C. I'm a bit rusty on Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions but I'm thinking that's pretty hot. It feels hot anyway.

32.5k ... thank heavens that's over. That was really hard! Now, this is supposed to be the easy part right? It's all downhill to the finish. Why does it still feel so hard?!

Crowds ... wow, lots of crowds! This is surprising - I didn't expect all of Greece to come out and cheer for us. Thank you!

42k ... and into the historic Panathinaikon Stadium ... crowds cheering, music blaring ... this is amazing!

Coming through the finish chute, a guy in a suit (the mayor? a local dignitary? random guy who broke through the security guards?) stretches out his hand to say "Thank you very much for coming. We're happy to have you here!".

You're welcome; it was my pleasure.

After the race the heat really hits me and I start dizzily stumbling around the finish area. I hear my name and think I have never been so happy to see my husband as I was just then! He brings me to the shade where I lie down to rest. As he goes to find my checked bag, a little girl comes over and sits very close to me; she wants to hold my hand. We start chatting (she's from India, now living in Greece, and also speaks rather good English. Tri-lingual at age 6... wow...). Her Dad comes by a few minutes later and proceeds to provide me with the most random, unsolicited family planning advice I have ever received! I think something was lost in translation.

Celebration! We're joined for dinner at Spondi by SFRRC'ers Sina, Leona, and Tom as well as Tom's lovely family, and Leona's 2 friends. Amazing food, wine and top-notch service. Definitely recommend this place!

Monday morning ... off to Santorini for some well-deserved (if I do say so myself) rest!

Looking forward to seeing the chatty girls in Bordeaux next week too!! More on this to come ...