体坛英语新闻：Record participation in 28th Athens Classic Marathon to mark 2,500th anniversary of Marathon

Despite the acute economic crisis that has hit the debt-ridden country this year, Greece has invested 1.5 million euros (2.07 million U.S.dollars) to the organization of the event and expects similar revenues, said Athens Classic Marathon President Kostas Panagopoulos.

Approximately 10,200 people participated in last year's Athens Classic Marathon which cost Greece 900,000 euros (1,244 million U.S. dollars).

"The Marathon which is closely connected to the Greek sports tradition, sends two main messages to the world which are significant in this period; crossing human limits and sacrifice," stressed Greek General Secretary of Sports Panos Bitsaxis.

Adding that the Classic Marathon is a major tourism event for Greece as well, Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT) Nikos Kanellopoulos said that for 90 percent of foreign participants the Marathon is an opportunity to visit Greece.

Kanellopoulos also revealed that despite the current financial problems EOT plans to invest 3, 8 million euros (5.25 million U.S.dollars) to the construction of a theatre at the start of the race in Marathon.

The Greek organizers pay attention to also promoting the idea of Green Marathon. The 250,000 bottles of water distributed to runners on October 31 will be recycled.

On October 28 Athens hosts the Congress of the International Association of Marathon and Long Distance Runners setting the agenda for a Green Marathon Movement.

Ahead of the big day there will also be a concert and an event to mark the history of the Marathon in the centre of Athens, during which the organizers will also honor famous veteran Marathon athletes, such as Italian Stephano Baldini, who won the 2004 Olympic Games Marathon in Athens and Constantina Dita from Romania who won the 2008 Olympic Games Marathon in Beijing.

Referring to Chinese peoples' passion with the Marathon, as well as the Oympics, Kanellopoulos noted that there is a digital screen in China which marks how many Marathons are held every day across the globe.

For this year's Athens Classic Marathon Greeks have furthermore organized a lighting ceremony for the Marathon Race Flame and a torch relay similar to the ones held for the Olympic Games, this time in Marathon.

This year's race is dedicated to the memory of Grigoris Lambrakis, Balkan Games Champion, member of Greek parliament and pacifist who in 1963 organized the first Peace Marathon race and was assassinated shortly afterwards.