Day #229 - Athens, Greece

Acropolis - off the hotel deck

Friday, October 29th

I got into Paris this morning around 11am. I had a 3 hour layover until my connecting flight into Athens. Everything went smoothly today - no delays, no baggage issues. Excellent! I forgot to tell you they had lost my bag on my return trip to St. Louis. It showed - but several hours later. Also, I wanted to mention that I was able to swing the flight due to frequent flyer miles. I only paid $100 for my return trip - actual ticket fare was $1,750. I've just about exhausted my backup miles supply. So - let's all hope for the best.

Paris to Athens was a little over 3 hours. I arrived just shy of 7pm Athens time. I am now 8 hours ahead of St. Louis time. I arrived to a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius (low 50's). A little cold - but nearly perfect for running.

The airport is 30 minutes from the center of the city. Liam, Kim, Greg, and my brother Kurt all arrived earlier in the day - around noon. I was going it alone to the hotel (I'm pretty OK with this right now). Kurt and Greg were in the room when I arrived.

We're staying at the Hilton Athens. It's a really nice place. Kurt got us on the concierge floor with his elite status with Hilton. Our room overlooks the Acropolis. Outstanding!!! We're actually doing this marathon with a tour group. It's somewhat different from most tours. We're mostly on our own. They provided the rooms, our registration fee, our dinner tomorrow night before the run, and our transporation to the run.

We have plans to meet up with Liam & Kim tomorrow around 9am. I actually haven't seen them yet. We'll tour the Acropolis and see some of the city. Then, I'm sure we'll eat and call it an early night.

On Sunday we run the Athens Marathon. This year is the 2,500 year anniversary. Wow! Back in 490 BC, the story goes, a Greek messenger (Pheidippides) brought word of victory in the Battle of Marathon back to Athens - then collapsed and died. Many, many years later, that journey inspired a sport. The distance between Marathon and Athens is the distance of the present day marathon - 26.2 miles. We'll be running the exact course set for the 2004 Olympics. This is really special. Whereas St. Andrews is the home of golf, Athens is the home of the marathon. Sunday morning we will be bused to the town of Marathon and will run the same distance back to Athens that was completed by the messenger in 490BC.

I'm excited, jet-lagged, weary - strange emotions going on. Greg and Kurt are already sleeping - it's just shy of 10pm. I need to calm down a little before I can sleep.

I hope all is well in the states. Good-night from Greece.