Athens 2004, MTN Marathon: A Synergy of Sorts
The 2004 Athens Olympics has come and gone with all its glamour and razzmatazz. It was history in perspective as the Games, the biggest marketing sporting event in the world, returned to ancient Greece after a hundred years. This year's MTN Lagos International Half Marathon is coming close on the heels of the Olympics event and as history has it, marathon events started in Athens by chance of a war victory in the year 490 BC.
The Greeks had been at war with their perennial enemies, the Persians , on the plains of the region known as the Marathon, which in Greek means "lengthy", a distance of about 40 kilometers to Athens. In earlier battles, the Greeks had managed to defend themselves against their foes. But in this particular war, they were out-numbered 2 to 3 as the Persians came out in one vast bulk, trusting their greater numerical strength to rout the Greeks once and for all. But as an old Yoruba adage goes "wisdom is mightier than numerical strength", the Greeks came out in a "U" formation to counter the attacks, putting the Persians in the hollow of the "U", thus attacking from three fronts.
Back in Greece, the anxious citizens were held in a stifling suspense as to the outcome of the combat. Mothers waited with baited breath for their sons; wives their husbands; children their fathers. No news was forthcoming as no man could be spared to carry out such service, until suddenly, a lone figure was spotted in the far distance, stumbling, struggling, and propelling his feet to take on more steps forward with an inner will.
The man was a foot soldier called Phideppedes - and he had broken away from the warfront at the moment of victory to bring home the good news to the Athenians. He had covered the distance from the combat zone home on foot, and as he entered the city, he was trailed by a throng of people to the city square. Gasping for breath, he shouted, "We won! We won!" and dropped dead. Thus, began the Marathon at the Olympic Games.
Over two and a half centuries later, at the revival of the Olympic games in the tradition of the Greeks, the moving spirit and originator of the idea, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, had the strong desire as preserve as much as possible, the romance of the old Greeks in the celebration of the Olympic Games. He introduced the tradition of lighting the Olympic flame from the Plains of Olympus, the assumed birth place of the Games. He went on further to immortalize a glorious aspect of Greek history, as distinct from Hellenic culture which is celebrated in the presentation of the Olympics. The Marathon was introduced then in grateful acknowledgement of the country of the birth of the Olympics.
The modern era of the Olympics started with the race as one of the events of the 1896 games. It was meant to duplicate the distance between Marathon and Athens, the journey covered by Phideppes. It is the longest race in organized sports and was only an athletic event of the Olympic Games until the city of Boston, United States decided to conduct the race as an event in itself. Since then, we have had the Boston Marathon and other major cities around the world have at least one Marathon event annually. So now we have London Marathon, the Paris, the Sydney, the Tokyo and MTN Lagos International Half Marathon.
A cynic once said it was appropriate that the communication giant was sponsoring such an event as the marathon, in that, if the outfit had been around in the days of Phideppes, "he and some of his colleagues at the battlefront might still have lived a few more patriotic years by merely sending out VICTORY text messages to people back home. Or better still dial straight to break the news".
Technology has since taken over from Phideppes, and the event has little or no record of his type of fatality. The MTN Lagos International Marathon has been held consistently over the last two years with the third edition slated for November 20 this year. Thousands have registered either online or at the various centres around the country while hundreds have indicated their intention from across the globe.
The organisers have planned a better outing this year that will dwarf successes recorded at previous editions as all the logistics have been improved upon.
So why not join in the fun and excitement. Register and train for the marathon and be part of the
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