This year, the 2,500th Anniversary of the Battle of Marathon coincides with the 114th Boston Marathon. Boston, the Athens of America, was the first city in the United States to embrace the Marathon spirit in 1897 – one year after the Marathon run was introduced at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Since then, the Boston Marathon run takes place annually, without interruption, and has become one of the most prestigious athletic events around the world. Over the past few years, it has become an annual tradition for Greece, the source of the Marathon spirit, through its Consulate in Boston, to offer to the Boston Athletic Association the Crowning Olive Wreaths that will be bestowed to the winners of the Boston Marathon.

As this year marks the 2,500th Anniversary of the historic Battle of Marathon, the event at the Consulate will be celebrated with the participation of numerous dignitaries from Massachusetts and Greece, and in addition to the traditional olive wreaths that the Consul General is presenting, the Mayor of the City of Marathon together with the son of the legendary winner of the 1946 Boston Marathon, D. Kyriakides, will also present to the President of the Boston Athletic Association the anniversarial golden-coated olive Crowning Wreaths for the winners of the 114th Marathon run.

The Consul General of Greece at Boston and Officials and Staff of the Consulate are pleased to extend an invitation to the Greek community to attend this celebration, and to pay tribute to the Marathon Athletic Association and to the long and bright history of the Boston Marathon.