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Athens Marathon |
The tradition of the marathon began with Pheidippides running from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news that the Greeks had defeated the Persians. On arrival, the exhausted soldier apparently gasped the word "Victory!" and dropped dead. The modern tradition began in Athens in 1896 with the revival of the Olympic Games.
Nowadays, the run begins at the ancient battlefield of Marathon and winds past Mati, Rafina, Pikermi, Pallini, Stavros and Halandri before arriving at Panathenaic Stadium. The middle of the route is mildly hilly, but the rest of it is either flat or downhill, and the running surface is asphalt all the way.
