A Greek runner’s bold marathon to help his impoverished country
Most have heard the legend of the origin of the marathon race: While the Greeks were routing the Persians in 490 BC, a messenger, Pheidippides, was sent running to Athens to inform the city that it was safe against the invaders. When the modern Olympic Games were inaugurated in 1896, this long-distance run of 41.3 kilometers (26 miles 385 yards), the distance from the coastal town of Marathon to Athens, was included in the Olympic events, and the marathon event was born. Officials from Boston who were spectators at the very first modern Olympic marathon race – won by the Greek Spyros Louis – took the idea home, where the Boston Marathon was inaugurated a year later, in 1897. A recently published biography ties the ancient marathon to the modern sport and the Boston Marathon in the story of Stylianos Kyriakides, an Olympic athlete who, after the devastation of Greece in WWII, was determined to win the 1946 Boston Marathon and turn world attention to his homeland’s plight. «Running with Pheidippides» (Syracuse University Press, 2001), co-written by former Boston Globe journalist Andy Dabilis and Boston schoolteacher Nick Tsiotis, relates the incredible life story of the Greek-Cypriot miracle marathoner Kyriakides became a world-class athlete from humble origins; he tried out for a place in the Pan-Cypriot Games, and the rest, as they say, is history. «In the Pan-Cypriot Games in March of 1934, he won the 15 hundred meters in 4:21, the 5-kilometer in 16:20, the 10-kilometer in 34:47, and the 20-kilometer, a half marathon, but he also did that in a two-day period, so dominating the competition that the national team leaders could not ignore him.» Interwoven with Kyriakides’s story are the stories of other athletes, the coaches, and the early history of track and field sports in Cyprus, Greece, Eastern Europe and Boston. There are a lot of facts; the book is well «peopled» by the vibrant characters of yesteryear. And though the reader can feel a little overwhelmed by the inclusion of the names, times and placement of most of the athletes in the many races Kyriakides ran, as well as some awkwardness in structuring that information, it is these details that make the story come alive. From the compelling tale of a man’s drive to compete, the book becomes most interesting with Kyriakides’s participation in the Berlin Olympics, against the backdrop of rising racism and Nazi power. Here the facts are chilling, from the descriptions of the German Philhellene pageantry surrounding the Olympics to the infamous incident when Hitler, as host of the Games, refused to shake hands with the non-whites, including the black-American sprinter Jesse Owens. As the tide of world events swept Greece into war and deprivation, Kyriakides’s athletic career was cut short in its prime. In late 1945, a half-starved and weakened Kyriakides decided, against all odds, to again take part (he ran in 1938 but didn’t finish) in the Boston Marathon. On the 50th anniversary of the event on April 20, 1946, he ran not just to win, but to plead assistance for the sick and needy in war-ravaged Greece. The doctor almost eliminated him at the start, fearing he’d drop in the streets. Not to give everything away, the race itself is a heart-stopper but Kyriakides’s impetus, his true grit, and his resolution to do something to help his country show the real heroism of this amazing athlete. «Running with Pheidippides: Stylianos Kyriakides, the Miracle Marathoner» by Nick Tsiotis and Andy Dabilis is published by Syracuse University Press, and in Greek by Kedros Publishers with the title «Gennimenos Nikitis.» The athlete, the champion, the humanitarian «Committed to using sports to teach the values of leadership, respect and cooperation,» the Sports Museum of New England is proud to present a special exhibit on Stylianos Kyriakides, the athlete, the champion, the humanitarian. The exhibit, «Kyriakides… Running for the Human Race,» is to be inaugurated in conjunction with the presentation of the Greek edition of the book at the American College of Greece next Wednesday, April 17. «Following his victory, Kyriakides traveled throughout America, raising both money for, and awareness of, his nation and returned home to a hero’s parade viewed by a million cheering Athenians. His triumph evoked the glory of ancient Greece, while helping save the modern war-torn nation. He was, and remains forever, a national hero and one of international sport’s true humanitarians,» writes exhibit curator Richard A. Johnson. Sponsored by the Atlantic Bank, FleetCenter and New Balance, the exhibit will include original photographs, medals and trophies, Olympic memorabilia and footage of the 1946 race, generously provided by the Kyriakides family and world media. The exhibit «Kyriakides… Running for the Human Race» will open at the American College of Greece, 6 Gravias Street, Aghia Paraskevi on April 17 at 7 p.m., and will run to April 26. Training Day
