The Marathon
As a physician, I have always admired those individuals who choose to exercise and stay in shape. It takes a lot of discipline and sacrifice to maintain the regimen.
I encourage all my patients to exercise and maintain their ideal body weight, but only a small percentage actually accomplishes it. What truly amazes me are my patients who are at the other end of the bell curve. These patients not only run regularly, but some are fanatical and run marathons. I do not recommend this from a medical standpoint and have always wondered what motivates them.
And while pondering this question, has anyone ever wondered why a marathon is 26.2 miles and where it originated from.
The answer begins with the 1896 inaugural Olympic Games. They chose to commemorate a soldier by the name of Pheidippides who ran from the battlefield of Marathon, Greece to Athens, Rome around 490 B.C. He was spreading the news of the Greek victory over the Persians. The sad part is that he collapsed and died at the end of his run. This may be one of the medical reasons why marathons may are not particularly healthy.
The original race at the Olympics was 40,000 meters or 24.85 miles covering the distance from the Marathon Bridge to the Olympic stadium. Twenty-five runners started this race and only 9 finished. Eight of these were Greek making the host nation very proud.
The original Boston Marathon was in 1897 and it was 24.7 miles. In 1908, the Olympic Games were held in London and the distance was changed to 26 miles to cover the ground from Windsor Castle to White City stadium. An additional 385 yards were added on so the race could finish in front of King Edward VII's royal box creating the 26.2 miles.
Much debate occurred, but the 26.2 miles was finally established as the official distance at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
I admire anyone who chooses to do this, but I still have my reservations on whether it is truly healthy.
I encourage all my patients to exercise and maintain their ideal body weight, but only a small percentage actually accomplishes it. What truly amazes me are my patients who are at the other end of the bell curve. These patients not only run regularly, but some are fanatical and run marathons. I do not recommend this from a medical standpoint and have always wondered what motivates them.
And while pondering this question, has anyone ever wondered why a marathon is 26.2 miles and where it originated from.
The answer begins with the 1896 inaugural Olympic Games. They chose to commemorate a soldier by the name of Pheidippides who ran from the battlefield of Marathon, Greece to Athens, Rome around 490 B.C. He was spreading the news of the Greek victory over the Persians. The sad part is that he collapsed and died at the end of his run. This may be one of the medical reasons why marathons may are not particularly healthy.
The original race at the Olympics was 40,000 meters or 24.85 miles covering the distance from the Marathon Bridge to the Olympic stadium. Twenty-five runners started this race and only 9 finished. Eight of these were Greek making the host nation very proud.
The original Boston Marathon was in 1897 and it was 24.7 miles. In 1908, the Olympic Games were held in London and the distance was changed to 26 miles to cover the ground from Windsor Castle to White City stadium. An additional 385 yards were added on so the race could finish in front of King Edward VII's royal box creating the 26.2 miles.
Much debate occurred, but the 26.2 miles was finally established as the official distance at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
I admire anyone who chooses to do this, but I still have my reservations on whether it is truly healthy.
posted by Anonymous at 6:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home