体坛英语资讯：Record participation in 28th Athens Classic Marathon to mark 2,500th anniversary of Marathon Battle

A record 12,500 marathon runners will participate in all road races of the annual Athens Classic Marathon to be held on October 31 in Greece, said organizers on Tuesday.

This year's 28th edition bears a special significance, since it will be the culmination of a series of events to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the Marathon Battle, noted Greek Sports Federation Head Vassilis Sevastis during a press conference for the race.

In 490 B.C. Greeks defeated the Persian invaders in a battle that resembled the encounter between David and Goliath. According to historians and legends, ancient Greek soldier Pheidippides ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens, a distance of 42 kilometers non stop, announced the major victory and died of exhaustion.

His name was connected to a feat which inspired modern marathons across the globe. Approximately 1,500 marathons are organized across the globe each year.

But the Athens Classic Marathon is the only one which follows the route attributed by legend to Pheidippides, from the Tomb of Marathon Soldiers to Panathinaikon Stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896.

Due to the low prize money offered to elite athletes, compared to other marathons around the world, Greeks do not expect more than two dozen famous Marathon runners to attend the race.

But thousands of enthusiastic young children, whole families, veteran runners and people with special needs from Greece and other countries will run in parallel races in the historical centre of Athens on October 31.

Despite the acute economic crisis that has hit the debt-ridden country this year, Greece has invested 1.5 million euros (2.07 million U.S.dollars) to the organization of the event and expects similar revenues, said Athens Classic Marathon President Kostas Panagopoulos.

Approximately 10,200 people participated in last year's Athens Classic Marathon which cost Greece 900,000 euros (1,244 million U.S. dollars).

"The Marathon which is closely connected to the Greek sports tradition, sends two main messages to the world which are significant in this period; crossing human limits and sacrifice," stressed Greek General Secretary of Sports Panos Bitsaxis.

Adding that the Classic Marathon is a major tourism event for Greece as well, Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) Nikos Kanellopoulos said that for 90 percent of foreign participants the Marathon is an opportunity to visit Greece.

Kanellopoulos also revealed that despite the current financial problems EOT plans to invest 3, 8 million euros (5.25 million U.S.dollars) to the construction of a theatre at the start of the race in Marathon.

The Greek organizers pay attention to also promoting the idea of Green Marathon. The 250,000 bottles of water distributed to runners on October 31 will be recycled.

On October 28 Athens hosts the Congress of the International Association of Marathon and Long Distance Runners setting the agenda for a Green Marathon Movement.

Ahead of the big day there will also be a concert and an event to mark the history of the Marathon in the centre of Athens, during which the organizers will also honor famous veteran Marathon athletes, such as Italian Stephano Baldini, who won the 2004 Olympic Games Marathon in Athens and Constantina Dita from Romania who won the 2008 Olympic Games Marathon in Beijing.

Referring to Chinese peoples' passion with the Marathon, as well as the Oympics, Kanellopoulos noted that there is a digital screen in China which marks how many Marathons are held every day across the globe.

For this year's Athens Classic Marathon Greeks have furthermore organized a lighting ceremony for the Marathon Race Flame and a torch relay similar to the ones held for the Olympic Games, this time in Marathon.

This year's race is dedicated to the memory of Grigoris Lambrakis, Balkan Games Champion, member of Greek parliament and pacifist who in 1963 organized the first Peace Marathon race and was assassinated shortly afterwards.