Morocco's Abdelkerim Boubker won the 29th Athens Classic Marathon on Sunday, clocking in at a record-breaking 2:11:40, with Kenyans Kipkosgei Sammy Chumba in second place with 2:13:27 and Ndiritu Daniel Gatheru in third place with 2:16:12, leading runners in the ultra-distance race that this year marks the 2,501st anniversary of the 490 BC Battle of Marathon. Two sideline events were also held in tandem: a 10-kilometer split and a 5-kilometer split.Boubker covered the 42-kilometer distance in record time, breaking the previous record of 2:12:40 set by Kenyan Raymond Bett in the 2010 Athens Classic Marathon.The first woman to finish the race, which set off from Marathon at 9:00 a.m., was Ethiopia's Elfneshe Yado Melaku with 2:35:25 (12th overall), followed by Russia's Kamila Khanipova with 2:33:31 (45th overall).The first Greek runner to finish was Dimitrios Theodorakakos with 2:24:10, in 7th place overall.The runners were cheered on by young and old alike who lined up on the streets along the route.The 42-kilometer Classic Marathon is based on the legendary run carried out by the ancient hoplite Pheidippides who ran all the way from the battlefield of Marathon to the ancient city of Athens to bring news of the Greek victory over the invading Persian army, and traces the actual route he is believed to have taken. Pheidippides died as soon as he arrived in Athens, shouting 'Enikikamen' (we won). Pheidippides' effort inspired the modern Marathon event, which covers roughly the same distance as that between Marathon and central Athens and was created for the first-ever modern Olympic Games of 1896.
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