GREECE: COMMONWEALTH CHAMPION IAN THOMPSON OF BRITAIN WINS EASILY OVER HISTORIC 26 MILE MARATHON COURSE.

Record ID: 527344

  • Title: GREECE: COMMONWEALTH CHAMPION IAN THOMPSON OF BRITAIN WINS EASILY OVER HISTORIC 26 MILE MARATHON COURSE.
  • Date: 7th April 1974
  • Summary: 1. GV & SV village girls dancing in national costume 0.13 2. SV Competitors receive olive branches 0.21 3. GV Official starts race 0.32 4. Thompson, Coleby and Schemenk in leading group 0.32 5. SV Sign "Marathon warriors" 0.50 6. SV Competitors round bend 0.53 7. SV English pair along road (Thompson and Coleby followed by Sc
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 1974 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ATHENS, GREECE
  • Country: Greece
  • Reuters ID: LVAAOWK4SJ2ERAVJYJHGU1XTRC23
  • Story Text: Commonwealth champion Ian Thompson of Britain easily won the international marathon race over the classic course from the village of Marathon to Athens on Saturday (6 April).

    He entered the all-marble stadium in the centre of ???ens almost five minutes ahead of fellow Briton Max Coleby.

    Thompson ran the 26-mile 385 yards (42.19 kilometres) course in two hours thirteen minutes 50.2 seconds, an average of almost 26 consecutive five minute miles.

    Thompson, Coleby and Doug Schemenk of the United States pulled away from the international field of 79 runners in the early stages.

    Schemenk dropped back and eventually finished eleventh, but fellow countryman Ron Kurrle came through to finish third.

    The race follows the route taken by the Greek warrior Pheidippides in 490BC. He ran from Marathon to Athens to bring news of the Greek victory over the invading Persians, but then fell dead from exhaustion.

    Athens was also the scene of the first modern Olympiad in 1896.

    Before the runners set off, the girls of Marathon village danced folk dances in national costume in the honour. They were also presented with an olive tree branch - a traditional custom of ancient Greece, and blessed by an orthodox priest.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register