The Legend of Pheidippides

The name "Marathon" comes from the legend of the greek messenger, Pheidippides. In the legend, it states that he was told to run from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). Many historians believe that the distance was 26 miles long, that he did it in a time of three hours, and that he collapsed and died after proclaiming that they had won, some even state he said "nike", or "Νενικήκαμεν".

I had always been curious about the history of a marathon, especially since I was going to run one. Oh ps...I DID IT! June 4, 2011 will forever go down in history as the day Lauren Folsom miraculously finished her first marathon. Here is a little sum up of the run: The first three miles were all hills, by mile 17 I was toast and totally cramping, my dad ran with me and encouraged me every step of the way, even offered his earphone if he had a good pump-up song :). My mom and Ryan drove by in the spectator bus at mile 18 and gave us a wave and encouraging words, which helped so much. At mile 22, Ryan joined in and ran the rest of the race with me and my dad. I don't think I would have made it without those two. (Poor Eric, we passed him at mile 21 and he had the biggest blister on his foot so he was unable to finish as strong as he wanted to). I finished with a time of 4 hrs and 30 something minutes, which isn't too impressive but for me, I finished and that was my goal. I think the next time I do a marathon, I will try and finish closer to 4 hours flat.

Alison, John, my mom and Ryan all came to support Eric, Dad and I and it was so fun to be cheered on by my family. The Newport Marathon is beautiful and I am so glad that it was a good experience, because now, although not too soon, I am actually wanting to train for another marathon!