Mary Jo Johnson of Ogdensburg has now run in 107 marathons, including all 50 states and seven continents.
On Oct. 31, I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in the “original” marathon in Athens, Greece.
With my love of marathon running, it was the perfect adventure, as this year was the 2,500-year anniversary or the original event. I joined 12,000 other people from around the world to run the original course that Pheidippidies ran to deliver the message to Athenians that they had been victorious over the invading Persians in a battle.
As I ran the course with others, I noted that I had never been with so many people from so many different countries, some I had never heard of. The Greek people came out and cheered us on, shouting “Bravo! Bravo!”
The course runs from the city of Marathon through the country to the city of Athens and ends up with the finish in the original Olympic Stadium, where you run around the track with people cheering for you.
It was a moment I will never forget.