The success and potential of charity running
Organisers of road races around the world gathered in Marathon (Greece) on Saturday for the 3rd Marathon Symposium of the Association of International Marathons and Road Races (AIMS). On the day before the 27th Athens Classic Marathon, which will feature around 12,000 runners (including running events at shorter distances), the topic was, 'Charity Programs and Marathon Movements'.
Among the key speakers at the Symposium was John Caine. He is the Special Projects Director of Nova International in Britain, which runs the Great Run races. Their most prestigious event is the Great North Run, the world's biggest half marathon starting in Newcastle. John Caine outlined in detail the success story of charity running. In 2008 the Great Run series had a total of 170,000 runners and generated an amount of 28 million British Pounds for charity. This was only the sum collected from those official charities with which the organisers cooperate. Caine expects the annual total to go beyond 30 million this year.
The Athens Classic Marathon will lead from Marathon to Athens on Sunday. It was there where the modern story of the classic race began back at the Olympics in 1896. The idea of the marathon origins from the legend of Pheidippidis, who is said to have run the distance from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory against the Persians in 490 BC. After doing so he collapsed and died.
"There could not be a better place than here, at the Marathon Tomb, to renew our commitment to running, based on fairplay, friendship and peace,"said Paco Borao, the Vice President of AIMS during his speech at the venue. AIMS and the Athens Classic Marathon are also already preparing a unique jubilee event in 2010: It will then be 2,500 years ago since the marathon was born. "In 2010 the Athens Classic Marathon will be an outstanding race. For every marathon runner it will be something special to participate in it. There could not be a more significant marathon jubilee," said Horst Milde, who is an AIMS Board Member and the Chairman of the Symposium.
The lighting of the marathon flame by an ancient warrior during a ceremony at the Marathon Tomb, the historic venue near the city of Marathon. Photo: Victah Sailer/photorun.net
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