谁发明了马拉松？

乔雅

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.

問大多数人马拉松（一场26.2 英里长的赛跑）的起源，你可能会听说古希腊信使斐迪庇第斯是如何从马拉松镇跑26 英里到雅典，宣告希腊的胜利，然后在那里去世的。为了纪念这件事，在古代奥运会上，希腊人开始了一场“马拉松”比赛。

但真实的历史是不同的。以下内容是关于这项比赛的名字来源，以及为什么你所听到的关于这项运动的一切都可能是错误的。

古代起源

首先，以下是史实：有一位名叫斐迪庇第斯的古希腊人，他在公元前490 年对抗波斯人的战争中确实做过信使。根据古代历史学家希罗多德的说法，信使确实跑了很长一段路。但斐迪庇第斯并非为了宣布马拉松战役的胜利，而是试图召集军队帮助击退波斯人。希罗多德写道，信使在雅典和斯巴达之间来回跑了153 英里，历时超过36 小时。他成功了，雅典人赢了，击退了波斯人。但历史并未记录斐迪庇第斯是为了宣布胜利，或在此之后死亡。其他人说可能是尤克勒斯做了这件事。

斐迪庇第斯的故事似乎始于一千多年后的19 世纪，当时罗伯特·布朗宁写了一首流行的诗。在诗中，信使跑到雅典后宣布希腊获胜后就去世了。然而，这几个人都不是古代奥运会赛跑项目的灵感来源。

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.

马拉松的真正起源

那么马拉松的名称和距离是怎么来的呢？运动员们为此可以感谢法国人米歇尔·布雷亚尔。19 世纪90 年代，布雷亚尔参加了国际奥委会（IOC）的成立大会，提出了受古代奥林匹克运动会启发的国际比赛。多年来，希腊一直在举办自己国家的复兴奥运会，但国际奥委会希望将其打造成一场国际化的比赛。

布雷亚尔建议其中一个项目为从马拉松到普尼克斯的赛跑，全程40 公里，即24.85 英里。组织者很喜欢这个想法，在1896 年雅典夏季奥运会上，希腊选手斯皮里宗·路易斯赢得了这项比赛。

1908 年，應英国皇室的要求，比赛变成了26.2 英里。那一年奥运会在伦敦举行。赛程足够长的话，爱德华七世国王和亚历山德拉王后就可以很容易地从皇家包厢看到终点线。

进入现代历史

从那时起，马拉松比赛变得越来越受欢迎。1897 年，第一届美国马拉松比赛在波士顿举行。尽管在近一个世纪后的1970 年才开始，但纽约市马拉松比赛现在是美国最大的马拉松比赛。

直到20 世纪70 年代，女性才能参加大多数马拉松比赛，现在她们在自己的比赛中表现出色，残疾人也是如此。马拉松比赛的起源可能不是某位信使的死亡，但这并不影响它永远充满活力。