7.02 miles (total: 1749.91 miles)
Fall down seven times, get up eight.
- Japanese Proverb
The most famous long-distance race with a Greek origin is the marathon, which celebrates the arduous journey of the messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens, a distance of 26.2 miles, to announce Greece’s victory over the Persians in 490 B.C. He then dropped dead from exhaustion. Though Pheidippides is the messenger most often credited with the noble and fatal trip, the runner was probably named Eucles, according to the ancient writer Plutarch.
The real story of Pheidippides, according to historians, is much better and has a happier ending. It also inspired the modern Spartathlon. The Persian fleet was on a roll. They had plundered their way through the Greek islands, sacked the city-state of Eretria, and then had their sights set on Athens. The Athenians sent a small force, commanded by Miltiades, to seal off the exits from the Bay of Marathon, named after the ancient Greek word for the fennel that probably grew wild there.
The ancient historian Herodotus writes that the Athenian generals dispatched Pheidippides to the great city of Sparta to ask for reinforcements in holding off the much larger invading force. Pheidippides reached Sparta the day after he left Athens, but his plea fell on deaf ears. Although sympathetic to their fellow Greeks’ plight, the religious Spartans were in the middle of a festival to Apollo and could not wage war until the full moon. It must have been a long 152.4 miles back home with the bad news, but luckily Pheidippides had something else to report.
While running through the mountains above the ancient city of Tegea (checkpoint 60 of the modern Spartathlon), he had a vision of the nature god, Pan. The son of Hermes, the divine messenger, Pan ruled over shepherds, nymphs, and rustic places. He was a great guy to have on your side in a big battle, because he could induce a wild fear in mortals called “panic.” This god called Pheidippides by name “and bade him ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, though he was of goodwill to the Athenians, had often been of service to them, and would be in the future.”
If you read it closely, everything we need to know about running is in Pheidippides’ story. He ran over 300 miles - the first half in a little over one day - and he didn’t even get what he wanted! If you run long enough, that tends to happen. Whatever quantitative measure of success you set out to achieve becomes either unattainable or meaningless. The reward of running - of anything - lies within us.
As I run every day I learn this over and over again. We focus on something external to motivate us, but it’s the process of reaching for that prize - not the prize itself - that can bring the peace and joy. Pheidippides kept going, and he ended up getting something even better, something outside the normal realm of human experience.
Pheidippides recounted his vision to the Athenian generals, who took it seriously and erected a new temple to Pan after the war. Unable to wait until the Spartans arrived, the Athenians charged the Persians. The Athenians fought with legendary courage, dividing and conquering the Persian force. Their underdog victory at Marathon is considered the tipping point in the Persian Wars, heralding the golden age of Greece.
All it takes is all you got.
Day 306
Comments