Pheidippedes: True Story?

By Jack Brooks

It is a little known fact that there were actually 2 runners sent off on the 24 mile journey from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC to deliver word of victory to those in the ruling chamber in Athens. 

The second runner was named Opportunistes and had his story come to light earlier the marathon distance could have been established well before 2008.

Now, Opportunistes was one of those runners who is habitually harping on about injuries and prior to the battle of Marathon he had ensured that all of his fellow runners were aware that he was having problems with his left calf. 

Nevertheless, when volunteers were called for to deliver the news to Athens that the Persians had been decisively trounced Opportunistes was the first to put his name forward.  In the end it was decided that 2 messengers would be despatched and Pheidippedes and Opportunistes set off together. 

It was probably sometime during the first few miles that Opportunistes suggested that they should add some spice to the journey by making it into a race and having a side-bet on the result. Having heard the rumours that Opportunistes had been suffering with calf problems an over-confident Pheidippedes wagered his only villa against Opportunistes’ villa.  Once they had shaken hands on this proposal Opportunistes suddenly picked up his pace.  Pheidippedes continued on at a steady pace confident that his opponent’s injuries would soon catch up with him.

It was with some surprise that Pheidippedes arrived at the ruling chamber to discover that Opportunistes had already been there over an hour earlier, had delivered his message about the battle and left a message for Pheidippedes to say he was jogging on to Xerxes’ café where he would be drawing up the paperwork for a major property transfer and would like to see him there as soon as possible. 

It is at times like these that one’s thought processes tend to crystallise and it now became evident to Pheidippedes that his opponent had never really sustained a calf injury, that he had been comprehensively duped and that he was about to lose his property.  

It has been widely reported that Pheidippedes entered the ruling chamber, uttered the words “We have won” and then died from exhaustion. However, his final words were actually “He has won” after which he suffered from a major heart attack and died on the spot.

Funnily enough, the distance from the ruling chamber to Xerxes’ café was exactly 2 miles and 385 yards.  Unfortunately, historians have only been able to ratify the true facts in recent months. Otherwise the full distance run by Opportunistes of 26 miles and 385 yards might well have been adopted from 490 BC as being the standard marathon distance.