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As noble as this idea is, the folklore surrounding this ill-fated but important run aren’t complete. In fact, it is more likely that he ran a much greater distance than 26 miles. Here’s an overview of who Pheidippides was and the real details of the historic events surrounding his noble actions and also of his death.
Day Runner By Profession
Pheidippides was employed as a day runner, referred to as hemerodrome, in Ancient Greek, by the Athenian military. These ancient couriers were responsible for running for days at a time in order to give important messages. They were designed to move swiftly and to arrive with their messages in a timely manner. They trained extensively, and they were capable of running great distances.
Pheidippides Runs to Sparta
Pheidippides was on duty the day of the fabled Battle of Marathon, which pitted the Athenian army against the Persian army. However, before the invasion, it was Pheidippides responsibility to run the 240 kilometer (150 mile) distance from Athens to Sparta to ask Sparta for their help. Sparta said they’d help but since they were in the middle of a religious festival, they were unable to leave right away. The journey from Athens to Sparta took about two days. After he gave his message to the Spartans requesting their help, he turned around and ran the distance from Sparta to Athens to let them know that the Spartans wouldn’t be able to fight right away.
Athens Fights Against Persia Alone
Ultimately, by the time Sparta would have been ready, the outcome of the Battle of Marathon was already complete. Although the Persian army far outnumbered the Athenian army, Athens proved to have a better battle strategy and more sophisticated fighting techniques. Athens won the battle, but now it was up to Pheidippides to make the run from Marathon to Athens, a distance of 40 kilometers or about 25 miles. He gave the message explaining that Athens was victorious and then he collapsed and died from the combined exertion of that run and the 300 miles that he ran from Athens to Sparta and back.