Exactly two and a half millennia after the Battle of Marathon, an event widely acknowledged to have ensured the democratic legacy of Western culture, two veteran Greek distance runners will aim to bring to life the incredible feat of legendary messenger Pheidippides. Greek women's marathon record-holder Maria Polyzou and the first man to repeat Pheidippides feat in 1992, Panayiotis Skoulis, have announced they intend to run the 520 km (325 miles) from Athens to Sparta and back to Marathon virtually non-stop within six days to mark the celebrations of the battle's 2,500-year anniversary. The marathon celebrates the run of a soldier, Pheidippides, from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. Pheidippides was carrying the news a Greek victory over the Persians and is said to have collapsed and died at the end of his effort. Out of that legend, the marathon race was born.
