Athens Classic Marathon Athens Classic Marathon The Athens Classic (authentic) Marathon is an annual marathon road race held in Athens, Greece, normally in early November. The race attracted 43,000 competitors in 2015 of which 16,000 were for the 42.195 km course, both numbers being an all-time record for the event. The rest of the runners competed in the concurrent 5 and 10 kilometres road races and the racewalking contest. The marathon course is based on the legend from which the race gained its name: Pheidippides, a messenger in Ancient Greece, ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greeks' victory
Battle of Athens (1941) towards the end of the entry for Marmaduke Pattle. The battle began when the 12 remaining Hawker Hurricane aircraft of the Royal Air Force (RAF)'s 80 Squadron, flying in formation over Athens were attacked by a large group of German Luftwaffe planes (which, according to the citizens of Athens, had 200 planes; and according to Roald Dahl, had 152 bombers and fighters), mostly Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s along with some Junkers Ju 87s and Junkers Ju 88s. In the resulting battle five RAF pilots were shot down and killed, including the famous Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle and one pilot