It was suggested that the race should be made from the vicinity of the Turriyi barracks to the Thermal Swamps, which would be very important for commemoration (the Battle of the Everglades was the foundation of Dionia) and for the full use of the abilities of the Turriy runners (the Turriy runners who participated in the marathon run were all young soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Legions, who had been training in the vicinity of the Turriyi camp all year round and were fully adapted to the terrain).

It was also suggested that it should run from the vicinity of the port of Turiyi to the city of Turiyne, which is also a good commemoration (when Davos led the mercenaries to land in the port of Turiyi, and finally established the kingdom of Dionya in the city of Turiyi), and it is also conducive to the final award.

It was also suggested that the starting point of the long-distance running route should be near the port of Turiyi and the end point at the foot of Mount Amendora, which is also of great commemorative significance, after all, King Davers led his army from the port of Turiy to land in Greater Greece, first of all, in Amendora, and this route is conducive to the performance of all competitors.

After repeated considerations, the preparatory team led by Klotocatax finally adopted the third suggestion, and the main reason for this is that this route is flat and open, which can help all the participants to complete the race smoothly, after all, the marathon is the first time to be held, if the race is too difficult, many runners will not be able to complete it, which is not conducive to future promotion.

Since the start of the Games, the marathon has been very popular with Dionian people and foreign tourists, and like the boat race, it is impossible to charge tickets because the scope of the race is too wide, so on the day of the race, people and tourists from and around Turiyi rushed to both sides of the track, surrounding the road from the port of Turii to the foot of Mount Amendolara. In order to prevent the game from being disrupted, Klotokataks even brought in the army to keep the game in order.

The crowd was huge, and the lineup of contestants was equally huge. Two years ago, after the Dionian Games Preparatory Group announced the creation of a long-distance marathon, there is a saying that has gradually spread in the Greek world, "Athletes who can run the entire marathon are real athletes". Under the influence of such public opinion, more than 200 players signed up for this event.

There are no qualifiers, no semi-finals, it's just a game.

After the high-pitched opening whistle blew, the runners rushed onto the track and slowly ran towards the finish line with the cheers of the spectators.

At the end of the long run, which was also crowded, the thoughtful preparations for the Games set up a VIP seat on a nearby hill to overlook the last leg of the race, and now the representatives of the various regions and city-states of the kingdom are sitting on the VIP seats one after another.

Pelopidas found his seat, and found that the messenger of Athens was next to him, and immediately smiled and said: "General Callistratus, congratulations, congratulations on your Athenian lead in the Dionian Games!" ”

"It's only temporary." Callistratus waved his hand modestly: "The sports meeting is not over yet, everything is not easy to say." Besides, we all understand that the so-called first and second are of little significance, and that the points of the various districts of Dioonia combined are far greater than the sum of our city-states combined, and that Dionya is only comparing its districts to our entire city-state. ”

"So what, since Dionia chooses to use this way to compare the strength and weakness of the sports ability of the various city-states, then if you lose, you must be convinced." Penopidas said confidently: "What's more, the Turiy region of Dionya surpasses our city-state in terms of population, land area, and prosperity, so being able to win is a manifestation of strength." ”

"You have a point." Calistratus seemed to respond a little perfunctory, but in fact he thought so: Athens now lags far behind Turii in terms of military strength, population, land area, and trade level, but at least Athens still has an advantage in athletic competition.

"Listening to the two of you, it seems that the first place has been secured. But I'll tell you, we're only two points apart from Acadia and Athens, and maybe when the marathon is over, Arcadia will be able to overtake us, because we have several good runners. It was Lucomedes who suddenly interjected.

The preparatory group arranged for the envoys of the city-states at the top of the medal table to sit together, which was really well-intentioned.

"If you want to talk about long-distance runners, we also have several in the Piosia League, among which Pantaclis also won the championship in the previous 3-kilometer long-distance race, and this time they all signed up for the marathon, and the final championship must belong to him!" Peropidas said quite smugly, just now he congratulated Callistratus, but now he showed a proud look of grabbing the first place in the medal table.

"Can a 3,000-meter race be compared to a marathon, it's an ultra-long distance of nearly ten miles!" Not to be outdone, Calistratus, who had a modest demeanor just now, said: "The reason why the Dionian Games have this event is because of the glorious battle of Athens - the marathon!" More than 15 of us have signed up for the competition, and they have been training tirelessly every day for more than a year to bring back the glory that should have belonged to Athens! ”80

"You're thinking too much, Callistratus." Lycoedes sneered: "Although it is true that the marathon was started because of Athens, can today's Athenians get a good place in this race?" I'm not optimistic, marathon running requires not only abundant physical fitness, but also a strong will to run such a long distance, can the Athenians, who are accustomed to enjoyment, endure this kind of suffering? I think it's enough! On the contrary, we Arcadians trek between mountains every day, and are more able to endure hardships and stand hard work. ”

"The most hard-working farmer is the farmer, you mean that you only need to send one farmer to win the championship of this project?!"

……

As Ipamironda watched as the three most powerful of the Greek city-states argued over whether their city-state could win the Games standings, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: thinking that at the opening ceremony of the Games, they were all relaxed, full of curiosity, and with a hint of a joke mentality, and they had completely fallen into it now. Not only them, but also the envoys of the other city-states around them. Although it was the first time for the Dioonians to host the Games, it should have been a great success just like everything else they did.

Ipamironda thought to himself, and said, "You don't have to fight, I think the championship of this marathon is likely to be won by the Dionians." ”

"Why?" Pelopidas knew that his best friend was not a talker, but every time he spoke, he was bound to hold something.

Ipamironda said seriously: "From what I know about the Dionian army, the Diorian Holy Kingdom conducts long-term military training for its citizens year after year, and one of the important training items is armed long-distance running, almost every 7 days, it is necessary to conduct long-distance running training of more than 5 miles, so the Dionian army marches quickly in the war, and can continue to fight, which is reflected in the battles in which many Dionian armies participate. ”

Calistratus, Pelopidas, and Lycomedes, you look at me, I look at you, suddenly stopped talking.

After more than an hour of waiting, the competitors finally appeared in their field of vision, but no matter how wide their eyes and attention, they did not find a familiar figure among the runners running at the front, but the spectators on both sides of the track cheered and even shouted the names of the runners in unison.

Calistratus was frustrated, because the vast majority of the Ionian crowd was able to make such a move, and the few runners in front could only be Ionians, or even Turriyi.

They were right, the first few runners were from the Turriyi region, and the runner in the lead was named Arcinis, who was not tired after a long run, but was getting more and more excited.

Compared with the immaturity of 5 years ago, Arcinis has now served as the main force in the First Army, and was promoted to the captain of the detachment at the beginning of the year, and married the daughter of a veteran of the army, this year is a great year for him, and two days later is the death day of his biological father, he decided to win the marathon championship, and then sacrifice this honor to the grave of his biological father, in order to pay tribute to his father, who died in battle before he was born: the child has grown into a man who stands up to the sky, and he can rest assured in the Elysee Paradise!

Today's weather is unusually cool, the sea breeze mixed with moisture blows on his face, and the audience shouts his father's name, his feet are getting bigger and faster......

………………………………………………………………

The top three runners in the marathon were eventually taken by the Dionian runners, all from the 1st and 2nd Dionian Legions, thus overtaking Athens in the Dionian Turiy region to take first place in the standings.

This disappointed the expectations of Callistratus and others, and also relieved the envoys of other city-states, after all, under the influence of Dionia's strong national power in the past few years, it is normal for them to have such thoughts: It is natural for Dionya to win the first place in the Games, why should Athens press on our heads.