This year marks my decade of running and when my colleague pointed out the Authentic Marathon Athens my target race for the year was set. And I am glad I did as this race has everything that you would want as a runner, in my opinion. Starting in a historic place, running the historic route, finishing in the Panatheatic Stadium with a celebration of athleticism, democracy, peace and Greek culture. Whatever your plans in November make sure to fit them around this magnificent race.
The race organization had laid on 350 busses to ferry about 18,000 runners from Athens to Marathon. We were dropped as the sun came up just on the southside of Marathon in front of a small café with some optimistic owners. 2 Employees to serve the last pre-race food and drink requirements of 18,000 runners. Having misunderstood the coffee menu, I got my hands on a double espresso, not my normal pre-race drink, but remembering Santry’s 2 poo strategy, I figured it couldn’t hurt. The start is from the athletics stadium in Marathon with plenty of photo opportunities, one with the Marathon flame and one with the stone marking the 1896 start of the first Olympic Marathon. And let’s not forget that it was from this place that Pheidippides ran to announce the news that the Athenians had overcome the Persians, while outnumbered 1 to 10 and so preserving the Greek democracy and way of life, perhaps poignant then that this race is held on Remembrance Sunday.
Waiting for the start of course you have to bump into other Eagles. (I have yet to go to a race where someone is not shouting ‘Hey, Ealing Eagle’). Turns out 3 other Eagles represented the flock in Athens; Luke Goodman, Robert Sharpe and Sandro Medda.
After taking the oath of fair competition and some other solemn pledges, we set of for Athens at 9am in a short sharp shower. This caused some accidents as people were trying to put their bin bags back on and crashing into some fences on the side of the road. I was put in block 5 based on my marathon time in Brighton of 3.41 and had planned on a 3.09 finish based on my EHM time. However, this plan was quickly thrown out of the window, as I suspect people in my block may have put their wishful target time in rather than an actual. It took about 5k before the field stretched out enough to run at a steady pace, so I fell back to target B; come in under Brighton time and enjoy the race.
The first 8k is ever so slightly down-hillish after which the fun starts. There are two sections that are visibly going up and the rest is going up ever so slightly; you don’t really see it, but the legs start to feel it. Years ago, I had a tendonitis and my legs protested to the hills by reintroducing the niggle in aptly my Achilles heel. After 31 kilometres you’re rewarded with a downhill to the finish, but by that time the legs are so tired that they curse the downhill rather than embrace the opportunity to go a little faster. The route itself is perhaps not the most scintillating, a good part goes through the outskirts of Athens, meaning industrial areas and shopping malls, but the Greek know how to organise a party. Music is being played, the sirtaki is being danced (with impromptu sirtaki dance courses on offer to marathon runners) and children are handing out olive branches. While perhaps not as heaving as London or Brighton, as a runner you’re never long without encouragement from the public.
The last 2 kilometres are absolutely brilliant as you come back in the centre of Athens. There is a constant roar from the public, urging you on to the finish line. With 400 metres to go you enter the final home stretch and 200 metres further the last bend reveals the Panatheatic Stadium, time to put in the end sprint and in louder noise than the athlete got on Super Saturday in 2012. A surge of all sorts of emotions meant all the pain melted like snow before the sun and one last effort push to the finish to bring me home in 3:34:57, only one hour 20 minutes behind the winning Kenyan Komen.
The AMA, though not the biggest marathon in the world, has everything; history, joy, tears, camaraderie, solitary confinement in a pain cave. In my view the best marathon to be run. You don’t want to miss this one.
