Marathon route needs a facelift

With billions of television viewers tuning in to see athletes running the'original' marathon course, Athens organisers are looking for a fast cosmeticsolution, which they say will include pedestrian walkways, planting and anirrigation system along the route

Organisers have ambitious plans for the looks of the marathon start (pictured), but ongoing projects are still several months away from completion

HOME to a world sporting legacy, the classic marathon route forms an integral part of Athens' pledge to host "magical" Olympic Games next year.

Holding the marathon on the course of legend, run by an ancient messenger to announce victory over the Persians in 490BC, is supposed to go a long way in securing the "splendour and uniqueness" the Athens Games have promised to deliver.

Symbolism and tradition, however, can do little to disguise the fact that the marathon course runs through some of the ugliest landscape in rural Attica, described by one top Olympics official as a "bordello". Decades of unchecked development have turned the roadside communities of Gerakas, Pallini, Pikermi and Nea Makri into a nearly unbroken stretch of hardware stockades, shopping malls, petrol stations and grill-houses.

"Marathons in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and the Paris 2003 World Athletics Championship were a beauty to behold," says architect Nikos Siapkidis. "In comparison, our marathon course looks like that of a Third World country."

With billions of television viewers expected to tune in for the Olympics next year, Greek organisers are looking for a fast cosmetic solution. In January, plans were announced to "regenerate, embellish and enhance" the marathon route along Marathonos Ave with pedestrian walkways, planting and an irrigation system. The works are part of a 72 million euro project undertaken by the public works ministry to widen Marathonos Ave from two lanes to four. Official completion estimates vary between April and June.

Bordello no more?

"By Games' time, the route will no longer look like the bordello it is today," Athens 2004 Organising Committee (ATHOC) executive director Marton Simitsek told the Athens News. "It will be a lot better once the roadworks are finished... and ATHOC has other plans for the area's look that will drive you crazy."

Details on those plans are still thin on the ground. The Athens News was unable to elicit an official comment for this story from the relevant ATHOC departments in charge of Olympic beautification and coordination with local administration. It is believed that ATHOC intends to cover the uglier spots with colourful screening, and is helping out with the greenery initiative.

The public works ministry has also agreed to provide funds and technical assistance to encourage home- and business-owners along the route to revamp their buildings.

Every little bit will help Athens Olympic Broadcasting (AOB), the host broadcasters of the 2004 Games, who want to make the coverage of the Athens marathon "a unique and memorable achievement". In a statement to the Athens News, AOB said they plan to feature the "context and beauty of the surroundings" with stabilised camera helicopters, in addition to covering the competition with fixed cameras and ground-tracking vehicles.

"All runners want to run the classic route," says retired Greek marathon record-holder Spyros Andriopoulos, "even though it's not the best course around for record-breaking."

Renowned super-marathon runner Yiannis Kouros likewise rejects comments on the landscape. "It's cars we really have a problem with... but one thing that's definitely needed is more shade," he says. "Runners will have a tough time in the August heat."

Organisers have opted to hold the 2004 marathon at 6pm on August 22 and 29, a wise choice given that many of the saplings currently being planted along the route can barely stand without support, let alone provide shade.

IAAF satisfied

But the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) officials, who recently inspected the route, have apparently declared themselves satisfied. "All solutions found are the best possible... In certain cases they are the best there have ever been," IAAF technical delegate Cesar Moreno Bravo said in June, according to an ATHOC press release.

"The beauty of the Athens Olympic Stadium [where the race will finish], the uniqueness of the classic marathon route, the homecoming of the Games to Athens, all these give the Olympic Games a new dimension," Moreno said.

Never mind that not all experts can agree on whether legendary Pheidippides, or any other messenger, ever made that famous run from Marathon to Athens in 490BC. "Neither Herodotus nor Pausanias mention a runner sent to announce the [Greek] victory," says archaeologist Petros Themelis. "The Athenians themselves hurried back to the city for fear of a Persian naval attack, but whether they followed the modern Marathon route, or a more mountainous course via modern-day Kifissia is not certain."

Herodotus says that the Athenian army marched back to defend the city "as fast as their feet could carry them". He mentions no specific route.

ATHENS NEWS , 31/10/2003, page: A05
Article code: C13038A051