In today's world there are many marathons in different corners of the world, some of them collect tens and hundreds of participants other thousands and tens of thousands. Today, everyone knows the top runners Elliott Kipchoge, Dennis Kimetto, Wilson Kipsang, Haile Geberselassie and others, who walk 42 kilometers in just over two hours. But who was the first modern marathon runner to win this distance?

The history of the modern marathon movement began in 1896 during the First Olympic Games in Athens. The idea of ​​running 42 kilometers was proposed by French philologist and classicist Michelle Breal. The start of the marathon was in Marathon, and the finish at "Panathanaikos" Stadium in Athens.

He was inspired by the ancient history of the Greek-Persian War, when the warrior Fidippid, after the victory of the Greek troops under the Marathon, ran 42 kilometers to Athens, which would inform the city's inhabitants of the victory. When you said, "Rejoice, Athenians, we have won!" He fell dead.

The organizers liked the idea and included it as a discipline in the Olympic Games. Since the Greeks liked this idea, it was decided to hold a qualifying marathon. In fact, there were two qualifying starts, the first being March 22, which won Harilaos Vasilakos with a time of 3 hours 18 minutes. The second start of the qualification took place two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, in which Spiridon Luis took fifth place.

Spiridon Louis was born on January 12, 1873 in the city of Marousi, now a suburb in northern Athens. Spiridon worked as a "water carrier": his father sold mineral water in Athens, and he helped him to transport it.

In 1893–1895 he served in the military under the leadership of Colonel Papadiamantopoulosa. One of the main organizers of the Olympic Marathon. And knowing about Luis' ability in running, he suggested that he take part in it. Colonel Papadiamantopoulosa was also a judge of the marathon and gave the start to the participants. Therefore, one might think that Colonel Papadiamantopoulosa specifically organized a second qualification for Louis to take part in the Greek team.

The start of the first Olympic Marathon took place on April 10. It was attended by 25 runners, 13 of whom were Greeks.

The main favorites of the first modern marathon were: australian Edwin Fleck, hungarian Dyla Kellner, frenchman Albin Lermusio and american Arthur Blake.

From the outset, recognized leaders moved away from the core group of runners. Until Louis was in a hurry and started running at a slow pace, far behind the leaders.

Because the route was difficult and the hot weather made it difficult to run. The marathon participants were initially escorted by police on horseback and bicycles, as well as by doctors and assistants to athletes who rode bicycles or in horse-drawn carriages. In the middle of the distance, the leader was a Frenchman by a large margin. The American could not stand and go the distance, after 36 kilometers the Australian falls. Spiridon, meanwhile, approaches a group of leaders after drinking a glass of wine from relatives.

After 2:58:50 Luis runs into the stadium, where he is greeted by a crowd of 60,000, and the King of Greece hands the winner an olive branch. 7 minutes after Luis, his countryman Harilaos Vasilakos finishes, with the third place being the Hungarian - Dula Kellner.

After winning the marathon, the King of Greece promised to fulfill any request of Louis, but an unpretentious aquifer asked for a donkey cart to improve working conditions. But later the winner was built a house, the tailor agreed to dress Spiridon for free, the owner of the restaurant gave a check for free dinners for ten years, and the barber agreed to shave the winner for free throughout his life. Spiridon also became the national hero of Greece.

After completing the marathon, Luis continued to work as an aquifer and then worked for the police. He no longer took part in sports competitions.

At the age of 63, he participated in the opening of the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936.