THE LEGEND is simple enough. The stalwart Greek soldiers of the city-state of Athens met the much-larger army of Persians on the Plain of Marathon. Through good strategy and pluck, the Greeks emerged victorious. To allay the fears of the residents of Athens, the Greeks sent a foot messenger, Pheidippides, to Athens to announce the victory. The 25-mile trek was arduous, but Pheidippides persevered and came, sweaty and exhausted, to the gates of the city where he announced, “We are victorious!” But the effort to reach Athens had been too much, and after uttering those joyous words, Pheidippides fell dead.

That’s the legend. As with most legends, the story of the glorious—and fatal—run of Pheidippides has its charms. It provides an heroic past to our present—especially when we’re in the midst of a marathon that isn’t going particularly well. We can either call upon Pheidippides to come to our aid, or we can curse him for originating this exquisite torture. Our favorite story based on the latter is attributed to Frank Shorter, who, in the wake of one particularly tough marathon, was heard to say, “I wish Pheidippides had died at 20 miles.” Hey, we hear ya, Frank.

The legend of Pheidippides makes him the founder of marathoning and the sport’s patron saint—and its first martyr.

And, of course, the legend is all bunk.

But it sure is fun, huh?

Pheidippides, a career foot messenger (or hemerodromos; translated: “all-day runner”), has been spinning in his grave for some 2,000 years, as it was some 500 years after the Battle of Marathon that his death at the gates of Athens was created—by a Roman, no less. Pheidippides and his fellow hemerodromoi would have been mortified to die in the process of delivering a message. Let’s face it: it smacked of professional suicide. Who’d want to employ an all-day runner who couldn’t run all day?

In actuality, Pheidippides wasn’t a marathoner; he was an ultrarunner. Before the Battle of Marathon he was sent to Sparta, some 150 miles away, to ask for help against the Persians. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. . . .

We admit to a weakness for legends—especially heroic legends. So we love the Pheidippides stories—all of them. Which is why we’ve brought together this special section:

• Kenneth W. Williams, with help from Greek Major General Dimitris Gedeon, weaves the Pheidippides legend into a stirring short story.
• Scientists Dave Martin and Roger W. H. Gynn debunk the legend in an excerpt from their massive book The Olympic Marathon.
• Persian expatriate Fred Ebrahimi, working on the theory that the winners get to write the history, presents the Battle of Marathon from the losers’ side.
• And Roger Robinson, masters marathoning legend and college English professor, presents the second installment of his “Running in Literature” series, this one containing literary references to Pheidippides, which explain in detail the evolution of the legend. [Note: Robinson’s chronology of the Pheidippides legend runs from page 88 to 96.]
• And, most obvious to the reader already, our favorite running artist, Andy Yelenak, aimed his considerable skills at re-creating the famed run by Pheidippides to Athens for this issue’s cover. Whether it happened or didn’t, it sure looks legendary—and heroic.

Thank you, Saint Pheidippides, for getting us safely through one more marathon.