Running in Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, the history of running can be traced back to 776 BC. Running was important to members of ancient Greek society, and is consistently highlighted in documents referencing the Ancient Olympic Games. The stadion, for example, was so important that "[t]he Olympiad would be named after the victor, and since history itself was dated by the Games, it was he who thus gained the purest dose of immortality." The Olympic Games hosted a large variety of running events, each with its own set of rules. The ancient Greeks developed difficult training programs with specialized trainers in preparation for the Games. The training and competitive attitude of Greek athletes gives insight into how scientifically advanced Greece was for the time period.

The people of Greece generally enjoyed sporting events, particularly foot racing, and wealthy admirers would often give large gifts to successful athletes. Though foot races were physically challenging, if successful, athletes could become very wealthy. The ancient Greeks developed running as a sport into a sophisticated field of science and philosophy.^{[citation needed]}

In the ancient sources, training is often discussed. However, details about how the training of runners compared to the training of other types of athletes are not clearly addressed. In ancient Greece, athletes might not have been as specialized as they are today. It is likely that a single athlete would have trained for, and competed in, many different events resulting in less distinction being drawn between training for different events. Many philosophers had ideas about how athletes should train, which provides historians with numerous insights. For example, Plato argued that the whole body should be trained to increase strength and speed for running and wrestling (Stefanović et al. 113). The lengths and types of foot races are widely written. Also discussed in a variety of sources is the use of music in athletic training and the diet of athletes. Professional runners known as "hēmerodromoi", the messengers who were informational lifeline of an empire. They were running across rugged terrains and paths to convey vital information in battles.

The Ancient Olympic Games involved well-trained warriors competing in a variety of events. The warriors did not have any specialized training for the Olympics. Each polis in ancient Greece had its training program for soldiers, which was the only preparation they had. However, to train for war, the ancient Greeks would exercise the whole body, which is a principle that many later ancient Greek athletes lived by. The first Olympians believed that to have a harmonious body, the entire body must be trained, which would result in fierce warriors and strong athletes. Aristotle later said that the training of the whole body infuses it with courage (Stefanović et al. 113).

There were many lengths and types of foot races in ancient Greece. The standard distance that these races were measured in was the stade (where one stadia is approximately 185 meters). The stadion race was the most prestigious; the mythical founder of the Olympic Games could allegedly run it in one breath. Other running events included a two-stade race, the Diaulos (running race) and the dolichos, which was a long-distance race that was 20 or 24 stades long, or about two and a half miles to three miles. For races longer than one stade, runners would have to turn 180 degrees around a post at each of the two ends of the stadium (Flaceliere 106).

In the Olympics, there was a race in armor, the hoplitodromos, which reflected the games' origins as a means of training for warfare. Contrary to popular belief there was no ceremonial torch-race or torch lighting at the Ancient Olympic Games. Although a torch-race was conducted at several religious festivals, such as the Panathenaic Games there was none at the Olympic games. One event that was not ever in the ancient Olympic Games is the marathon. What is called a marathon today gets its name from the 40-kilometre (24.85 mi) distance covered by the Athenian army running back to the city after battle with Persians at Marathon in 490 BC. In 1896, at the first modern Olympics, the very first modern-day marathon was run. To honor the history of Greek running, Greece chose a course that would mimic the route run by Athenian army. The route started at a bridge in the town of Marathon and ended in the Olympic stadium.

Another event in the ancient Olympic Games was the pentathlon. The pentathlon was a combination of five events: discus, javelin, jumping, running and wrestling. This race reflected the ancient Greek belief that one's body should be strong as a whole and not just in one area. Aristotle describes a man's ultimate physical beauty as a body capable of enduring all challenges. This is why he viewed the athletes in the pentathlon as the most beautiful of them all.

As ancient Greece developed, sports also developed. Athletics in ancient Greece became a very scientific and philosophical field of study and practice. Many philosophers had their own ideas about how athletes should train. By the fourth century BCE, sports in ancient Greece became so competitive and advanced that specialized coaches developed for each particular sport. These coaches were known as gymnasts. Along with specialized coaches, a new system of training was developed—the tetras. This was a four-day cycle of varying training. The tetras had the following structure: