誰發明了馬拉松？

喬雅

Ask most people about the origins2 of the marathon （a race of 26.2 mileslongrun）， you may hear about how Pheidippides， an ancient3 Greek courier4， ran 26miles from the town of Marathon to Athens to herald5 the Greek victory6， and thendied there. The Greeks started a “marathon”to the ancient Olympic Games inmemory of it.

But the true history is different. Heres how the race got its name—and whyeverything youve ever heard about the sport may be wrong.

Ancient origins

First， the facts： There was an ancient Greek named Pheidippides， and he didwork as a courier during the war against the Persians in 490 B.C. According to theancient historian Herodotus， the courier did make a long run. But Pheidippides wasnot heralding victory in the Battle of Marathon—he was trying to round up troops7 tohelp fight back the Persians. Herodotus writes that the courier ran 153 miles backand forth8 between Athens and Sparta over 36 hours. It worked and the Athenianswon， beating back the Persians. But Pheidippides is not recorded as heralding newsof the victory or dying after that. Other people said it might be Eukles who did it.

The story of Pheidippides seems to start more than a thousand years later in the19th century， when Robert Browning wrote a popular poem in which the courier ranto Athens， heralded the Greek victory and died. However， none of these meninspired9 a race at the ancient Olympics.

問大多數人馬拉松（一場26.2 英里長的賽跑）的起源，你可能會聽說古希臘信使斐迪庇第斯是如何從馬拉松鎮跑26 英里到雅典，宣告希臘的勝利，然后在那里去世的。為了紀念這件事，在古代奧運會上，希臘人開始了一場“馬拉松”比賽。

但真實的歷史是不同的。以下內容是關于這項比賽的名字來源，以及為什么你所聽到的關于這項運動的一切都可能是錯誤的。

古代起源

首先，以下是史實：有一位名叫斐迪庇第斯的古希臘人，他在公元前490 年對抗波斯人的戰爭中確實做過信使。根據古代歷史學家希羅多德的說法，信使確實跑了很長一段路。但斐迪庇第斯并非為了宣布馬拉松戰役的勝利，而是試圖召集軍隊幫助擊退波斯人。希羅多德寫道，信使在雅典和斯巴達之間來回跑了153 英里，歷時超過36 小時。他成功了，雅典人贏了，擊退了波斯人。但歷史并未記錄斐迪庇第斯是為了宣布勝利，或在此之后死亡。其他人說可能是尤克勒斯做了這件事。

斐迪庇第斯的故事似乎始于一千多年后的19 世紀，當時羅伯特·布朗寧寫了一首流行的詩。在詩中，信使跑到雅典后宣布希臘獲勝后就去世了。然而，這幾個人都不是古代奧運會賽跑項目的靈感來源。

The real origins of marathons

So howdid the marathon get its name and distance10？ Runners can thank a Frenchman， Michel Br佴al for both. In the 1890s， Br佴al took part in starting congress11 of theInternational Olympic Committee （IOC）. It proposed12 international competitionsinspired by the ancient games. Greece had been hosting its own revived13 Olympics foryears， but theIOCwanted to makethemacompetition between nations.

Bral suggested that one of the events be a footrace14 from Marathon to Pnyx，which had a distance of 40 kilometers， or 24.85 miles. The organizers15 loved the idea，and at the 1896 Summer Games in Athens， Greek runner Spiridon Louis won the race.

In 1908 the race became 26.2 miles because of the British royal16 family. TheOlympics were held in London that year. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandracould easily see the finish line from the royal box if it was long enough.

Racing into modern17 history

Since then， marathons have only grown more popular. The first U.S. marathonwas held in Boston in 1897， and though it began nearly a century later， in 1970，the New York City Marathon is now the nations biggest.

Women couldnt join from most marathons until the 1970s. Now they havedone great in their own races， as do people with disabilities18. Its origin may not bea couriers death， but the marathon race will be still full of life.

馬拉松的真正起源

那么馬拉松的名稱和距離是怎么來的呢？運動員們為此可以感謝法國人米歇爾·布雷亞爾。19 世紀90 年代，布雷亞爾參加了國際奧委會（IOC）的成立大會，提出了受古代奧林匹克運動會啟發的國際比賽。多年來，希臘一直在舉辦自己國家的復興奧運會，但國際奧委會希望將其打造成一場國際化的比賽。

布雷亞爾建議其中一個項目為從馬拉松到普尼克斯的賽跑，全程40 公里，即24.85 英里。組織者很喜歡這個想法，在1896 年雅典夏季奧運會上，希臘選手斯皮里宗·路易斯贏得了這項比賽。

1908 年，應英國皇室的要求，比賽變成了26.2 英里。那一年奧運會在倫敦舉行。賽程足夠長的話，愛德華七世國王和亞歷山德拉王后就可以很容易地從皇家包廂看到終點線。

進入現代歷史

從那時起，馬拉松比賽變得越來越受歡迎。1897 年，第一屆美國馬拉松比賽在波士頓舉行。盡管在近一個世紀后的1970 年才開始，但紐約市馬拉松比賽現在是美國最大的馬拉松比賽。

直到20 世紀70 年代，女性才能參加大多數馬拉松比賽，現在她們在自己的比賽中表現出色，殘疾人也是如此。馬拉松比賽的起源可能不是某位信使的死亡，但這并不影響它永遠充滿活力。