I want to begin by thanking the gentleman from Florida for not only yielding me the time but for his service here in Congress. He has been an incredible Member, and I look forward to his return. As…
I want to begin by thanking the gentleman from Florida for not only yielding me the time but for his service here in Congress. He has been an incredible Member, and I look forward to his return.
As well, I thank my friend, my colleague from New Jersey, for his comments.
I would also like to thank Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros- Lehtinen for their leadership and support of this bill.
I also appreciate the support of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and the bipartisan cochairs of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, Representatives Maloney and Bilirakis.
Madam Speaker, I was very proud to introduce H. Res. 1704, along with my good friend and colleague, John Sarbanes of Maryland, to honor the 2,500th anniversary of the Greek Battle of Marathon.
Every time someone runs a marathon race, he is commemorating one of the most momentous events in Western history, the Battle of Marathon, fought in 490 B.C. A few thousand Athenian and other Greek soldiers destroyed a huge force of invading Persians on the plain of Marathon, a victory widely believed to have ensured the democratic legacy of Western culture. A soldier charged with carrying the important news of victory back to Athens literally ran his heart out to deliver that message--and so the spirit of the marathon was born.
There is a deep connection between the nation of Greece, the city of Marathon, Greece, the Massachusetts town of Hopkinton, and the city of Boston. Hopkinton, Massachusetts, which I am proud to represent, is where each year the Boston Marathon begins. In 2008, in preparation for the 2,500th anniversary, the city of Marathon asked Hopkinton to be the guardian of the Marathon Flame, and brought it to Hopkinton, its sister city, in order to embody the spirit of Marathon all over the United States.
This year, as part of the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon, the Flame of Marathon was brought by Hopkinton to Washington, D.C., to honor the 35th anniversary of the Marine Corps Marathon and its race director, Mr. Rick Nealis. I recently had the privilege of honoring Mr. Nealis at a dinner in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, celebrating the partnership between the town of Hopkinton, the Boston Marathon, and the Marine Corps Marathon.
The Boston Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the New York City Marathon are among the three stellar marathon races organized each year in the United States, but over 500 marathon races take place every year around the world, including scores of races in the United States involving hundreds of thousands of American and foreign athletes, all seeking to emulate the spirit of that first marathon run 2,500 years ago this year.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank Timothy Kilduff and Michael Neece with the Hopkinton Athletic Association for all the support they have given to this resolution. I also want to thank the Board of Selectmen of the town of Hopkinton for their steadfast support of Hopkinton's proud tradition as the starting place for the Boston Marathon each year, and for their support of this bill.
I also want to express a special ``thank you'' to the Embassy of Greece, most notably to Ambassador Vassilis Kaskarelis, Minister Counselor for Cultural Affairs Zoe Kosmidou, and Constantinos Orphanides, the Consul General for Greece at the consulate in Boston.
I have been a longtime spectator but never a participant of the Boston Marathon or of the Marine Corps Marathon, and I am honored to support this resolution that honors these two events that are such a source of pride to the people who live and work in Massachusetts and the Nation's Capital. I honor the people of Greece, the city of Marathon, and the memory of the Battle of Marathon.
I ask all of my colleagues to support this resolution, and I can't wait until we honor the 5,000th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon and the establishment of Western democracy.
Remarks by H.E. Ambassador of Greece Mr. Vassilis Kaskarelis at the Marine Corps Marathon Press Conference, Washington, DC, Friday, Oct.
29, 2010
Honored Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honor
for Greece and even more so for myself to be participating in
these inspiring events that mark, on the one hand, 2,500
years from the Battle of Marathon and on the other, the 35th
anniversary of the annual Marine Corps Marathon.
We read and hear of Greece's contributions to Western
civilization, of having invented democracy, having given us
great works of philosophy and literature, but we often forget
Greece's holistic approach to life and living, that is ``noyw
ygihw en dvmati ygiei'', that is ``healthy body mind in a
healthy body''.
Today at the Walter Washington Convention Center, as we are
surrounded by the spirit of a healthier approach to our daily
living, we ought to consider whether we would be living in a
different world, had it not been for the victory at Marathon
2,500 years ago.
One might wonder, and rightly so, as to why a Battle that
was fought thousands of years ago, might still be important
today, and why commemorate it 2,500 years later.
The answer is simple. The Battle of Marathon, won by a
handful of Athenians, was decisive not only for the future of
Greece, but also the future of Western civilization.The
Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon allowed for the
establishment of democracy. It allowed for the flourishing of
the classical period of Greek culture, establishing the
foundation of the Western civilization.
One wonders whether Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and
Aristophanes might have written their definitive works had
the Battle of Marathon had a different result. Would
Socrates, perhaps even Plato and Aristotle have laid the
foundation of western philosophy? Would the democratic
principles, which, unfortunately, we take for granted today,
have developed as they have?
Most of you know that the Marathon run, as we know it
today, was instituted in the 1896 Olympics, and was won, if I
may say so, by a Greek peasant, Spyros Louis.
Today, there are more than 500 marathons throughout the
world each year. They are inspirational gatherings, which
bring together thousands of athletes of different cultures,
ethnicities and races, an accomplishment in and of itself.
Many are also run to raise awareness for good causes.
Phidippides, the first so-called Marathon runner, the man
who ran to tell his fellow citizens of their glorious victory
in the city of Marathon, is the stuff of legends around the
world. His story, as the story of many current Marathon
runners, who dedicate themselves to the pursuit of athletic
excellence, continue to inspire us. And as the Olympic Games,
so do marathon runs offer a moment in time when differences
are forgotten and participants are unified in the pursuit of
an ideal.
Greece is grateful to Marathon Committees around the United
States for organizing the 2500th anniversary celebrations in
conjunction with Marathon runs throughout the country. We
thank all of them for their participation in these
commemorative events.
We are also grateful to the Boston Marathon and the city of
Hopkinton, the guardian of the Marathon Flame, which carries
the spirit of Marathon all over the U.S. The cities of
Hopkinton and Marathon are sister-cities and share similar
cultural and athletic values.
Most of all, we thank the United States Marines for
bringing the Marathon flame from Hopkinton to Washington,
under the auspices of the 35th Marine Corps Marathon and Race
Director, Mr. Rick Nealis.
We are privileged to continue this tradition and honored to
be celebrating it with the Marine Corps Marathon, also known
as ``The People's Marathon''. It is on occasions such as this
that we realize our common past and hopefully realize that we
ought to work for a common future.
Thank you.
