A very rare Athens 1896 Olympic Games official programme for athletics at the Panathinaiko Stadium on 10th April the day of the marathon, programme of

A very rare Athens 1896 Olympic Games official programme for athletics at the Panathinaiko Stadium on 10th April the day of the marathon, programme of events also featuring the 100m final, 110m hurdles final, high jump, pole vault, printed with the names of all competitors The marathon event was a special race invented by Michel Breal as part of the athletics programme at the Athens 1896 Olympic Games. The idea of a race from the city of Marathon to Athens took inspiration from the legend of Pheidippides. The first such marathon race was a Greek national competition that served as a qualifier for the Olympic Games. The qualifier was won by Kharilaos Vasilakos. The length of the marathon in 1896 was 40 kilometres. At the 1st Modern Olympiad, 25 athletes entered the event but only 17 runners took part in the marathon. The three medallists in the 1,500 metre race Edwin Flack, Arthur Blake & Albin Lermusiauc vied for the lead in the early stages but by 32km only Flack was still racing. The home Greek runner Spyridon Louis gained ground slowly and steadily on the Olympic gold medalist and took the lead when Flack 'hit the wall' with 3km remaining. Louis won the race unchallenged at the finish in a time slightly less than three hours. The Greek national champion Vasilakos finished second after a tight finish with Belokas and the Hungarian Kellner, the latter later promoted to third after as successful protest proved that Belokas had covered part of the course by carriage. Spyridon Louis's success in the marathon launched the water carrier from Marousi to national hero status.