This year’s event has attracted 9,500 international participants and 3,000 Greeks A record number of people are taking part in the Athens marathon to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the run which inspired the modern event.
In 490BC, the Athenian army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon. According to legend, a messenger called Pheidippides ran the 42km (26 miles) to Athens to announce the victory.
More than 12,000 people will run the same route as Pheidippides.
Despite the Greek financial crisis, the budget for the race has been increased.
1.5m euros (£1.3m) was raised for the event through sponsorship, compared with 900,000 euros (£780,000) last year.
Our correspondent in Athens, Malcolm Brabant, says this anniversary offers Greece a chance to bathe in the glow of its glorious past and temporarily escape the depressing strait jacket of economic misery.
Organisers also hope the increased number of international participants will earn the city 25m euros in tourist revenues.
It is a tough race – the first 32km of the course are mostly uphill. Legend has it that Pheidippides collapsed and died from exhaustion and dehydration after his run.
Jonathan Kosgei Kipkorir leads the field in the men’s race, while on the women’s side, Ethiopia’s Ashu Kasim is widely favoured, although Japan’s Mizuki Noguchi holds the course record.
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