The Art of Running: From Marathon to Athens on Winged Feet

by Andrea Marcolongo

The inspiring story of how one of Europe’s most original and compelling classicist learned to run—and live—like a Greek 

Much has changed since the day in 490 BCE when the indefatigable Athenian herald Philippides made his legendary run and delivered to the people of Athens news of their city’s victory over the Persians. One thing, however, hasn’t it is still twenty-five punishing miles over rough terrain from Marathon to the Acropolis.

Each year, all over the world, thousands of professional athletes and millions of amateur enthusiasts replicate Philippides’s enterprise, many running with such gusto that one could be forgiven for thinking the fate of Athens once more hung in the balance. 

Why do we run? To what end, all the effort and pain? Wherefore this love of muscle, speed, sweat, of testing one’s limits? The Greeks were the first to ask these questions and to wonder why we choose to measure ourselves in this way against others; they were the first to formulate the adage, mens sana in corpore sano; they were first to interrupt war, work, politics, the daily routine to enjoy public celebrations of athletic prowess. The Greeks invented sport! Sport as something separate from labor or war; activity as an end unto itself and a form of entertainment for others. They were also the first to understand how regular physical activity, victory, and loss connected to our emotional and mental well-being.

As the pandemic entered its second year, despondent, isolated, and apprehensive about the future, the internationally renowned classics scholar and best-selling author Andrea Marcolongo discovered running. After years spent with her head and heart in the books, trying to think like a Greek, she set out to learn how to run like a Greek. In doing so, she not only deepened her understanding of the ancient civilization she has spent decades studying, but also discovered a great deal about herself. 

In this spirited, generous, and erudite book, Andrea Marcolongo shares not only her erudition but her own journey to understanding that a healthy body is indeed, and in more ways than one might guess, a healthy mind.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Sports, Memoir, Italian Literature, History

192 pages, Paperback

Published June 6, 2024

About the author

Andrea Marcolongo, nata nel 1987 e laureata in Lettere classiche presso l'Università degli Studi di Milano, è una scrittrice italiana attualmente tradotta in 27 Paesi. Autrice de La lingua geniale. 9 ragioni per amare il greco (Laterza, 2016) e de La misura eroica (Mondadori, 2018), scrive per TuttoLibri de «La Stampa». Traduttrice dal greco, visiting professor presso l'Universidad de Los Andes di Bogotá e l'UNAM di Città del Messico e presidente 2019 del Festival de l'histoire di Blois, è stata finalista in Francia al Prix des Lecteurs. Ora vive a Parigi.

Reviews

[Mirjam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost never DNF a book but this was so, so boring and she lost me when she started talking about running and sexuality / wanting to become a mother. Thought it was going to be fun historical facts about running, but this was only in the first chapter or so 🥲.

[Raynee · Rating 1 out of 5]

pick me girl energy.

[Henriette · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining read: philosophical musings about running
I was drawn to the book by its subtitle - to run like a Greek. Interesting. The author is a classical scholar who took up running on a whim during the Covid pandemic. And decided to write about it.
At first I didn‘t know what to expect and then the book captured me: quite a few comparisons of modern day running with the way it was in classical times, philosophical musings about running and especially what is made of it in modern times, Marcolongo‘s personal story of eventually running the marathon from Marathon to Athens. A quirky mix which totally worked for me.
The writing is excellent and the points Marcolongo makes are valid - sometimes it is as if she steps outside of the modern running frenzy and looks at it with fresh eyes.
An entertaining and recommended read.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. The review is left voluntarily.

[Valentina · Rating 2 out of 5]

E' un libro che ho trovato fiacco, poco ispirato, nonostante unisca le due più grandi passioni dell'autrice, le lettere classiche e la corsa. Dopo averne letta la presentazione sull'inserto letterario di un quotidiano ne ero stata parecchio incuriosita, anche perchè ammiro molto chi l'ha scritto. Tuttavia è bastata la lettura di poche pagine per trovarlo oltremodo ripetitivo e prolisso. Insomma, sembra la classica pubblicazione su commissione che serve a consolidare la fama, e ad assicurare ulteriori entrate, a scrittori e scrittrici già affermati.

[Maria]

Elementary, corny. Makes sweeping claims about all runners that would grind my gears. I read it to the end mostly because I try to always be in the middle of a book on running because I find it motivating, but out of all the books I've read on running, this one ranks the lowest/was the least motivating. Hardly anything with substance here.

[Hannah]

I may dislike running, but I really love people who write about running. I just translate it to all the fitness stuff I do and love. Really great stuff on the pursuit of fitness, on what it feels like to truly be inside your body...loved it.

This is a great book but a terrible audiobook. This woman butchered French, Spanish, Italian, and English, and the only reason I'm giving her a pass on her questionable Latin is because there's no one alive to be mad about it and because church Latin and academic Latin are pronounced differently today anyway. But seriously, this narrator doesn't know how to read words and should not have been hired for this job. Do yourself a favor and read it in print or e, don't do the audio.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some relatable musings and interesting facts (the original marathon was only 25 miles but was changed to 26.2 in the 1908 Olympics for better royal spectating!! should we just change it back?) but a little tedious at times. It was also from the perspective of a formerly un-athletic person who started running as an adult, and so generalizations were made that did not reflect my personal experience. For example, that people start running out of a fear of aging. Speak for yourself, I started running at 13 because I was untalented at other sports and didn't want to be a total LOSER. Anyways now I'm totally mentally dependent on it so that's cool

[Kayla Albers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty amateur take on running and I got pretty tired of hearing “2 weeks out from my first marathon” every other sentence. Like stop it you started the book with that we KNOW. But it was fine to listen to while running…I guess.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt a bit all over the place. I thought it would focus more on the history of running in Ancient Greece (and it probably should have, as those were the good parts of this book). But most chapters start with some brief information about the Greeks and then devolves into the author's own feelings and thoughts on running. A lot of it felt like ranting about things too. I listened to the audiobook and did not love the narrator either.

[Susy C. *MotherLambReads* · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the history of running. I liked learning about the Olympic games that started running into a sport.

The author was training for a Marathon in Athens while she was writing this book. It was inspiring listening to her work through different trials. This book did have a lot of evolution- grateful for a Creator who designed us so well. Thanks LibroFM for the audio copy.

💬*𝙈𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.*⁣
💬 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵:𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮.𝘤𝘰𝘮/𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴/

[Philly Girls Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for this delightful audiobook @librofm , @europaeditions , @andrea.marcolong . The opinions expressed in my reviews are always my own.

“Here sighs and cries and wails coiled and recoiled
On the starless air, spilling my soul to tears.
A confusion of tongues and monstrous accents toiled
 
In pain and anger, voices hoarse and shrill
And sounds of blows, all intermingled, raised
Tumult and pandemonium that still
 
Whirls on the air forever dirty with it
As if a whirlwind sucked at sand. And I,
Holding my head in horror, cried: ‘Sweet Spirit,
 
What souls are these who run through this black haze?’
And he to me: ‘These are the nearly soulless
Whose lives concluded neither blame nor praise.
 
They are mixed here with that despicable corps
Of angels who were neither for God nor Satan,
But only for themselves. The High Creator
 
Scourged them from Heaven for its perfect beauty,
And Hell will not receive them since the wicked
Might feel some glory over them.’” 

Dante Alighieri (ca. 1265-1321), “The Inferno” (Part I of The Divine Comedy), Canto 3, translated by American poet John Ciardi (1977)

🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃

If you read the above verses from The Divine Comedy describing running you are probably thinking the same thing I think at the beginning of every run: "Why?" Why would anyone do this to themselves deliberately? Why do often middle aged people who would have never even considered running in their early 20's suddenly obsessivley insist on going to sleep at 9pm, so that they could wake up before the dawn and put themselves through hours of torture to win....absolutely nothing at the end?

Do people engage in non competitive running to improve health? One could argue that there are many other, more pleasurable activities you could choose from. Yet running firmly remains at the top of the world's most popular exercise list year after year. Is it because of the convenience of being able to just get out of your house whenever and exercise? Is it because of the infamous "runners' high"?

Marcolongo ponders all of the above and much more in The Art of Running.

Be warned: this is NOT a self-help book or any kind of manual on running techniques. Neither is it a biography of a famous athlete, so if that's what you are looking for - keep on looking (there are plenty honestly, so your search should not be that long 🤣🤷). The Art of Running is mainly Andrea Marcolongo's philosophical musings on well...why do we run? Like at all....Sprinkled throughout with curious historical facts, as well as topics such as fad diets, and environmental impact of our society's running craze (and in case you were wondering about this one, yes, there's an impact. Anything from the mass production of your fancy running shoes, to flying thousands of people to certain popular races and marathons - do not fool yourself, yes?!)

The author decided to write this book as she signed up to run one of the most iconic marathons in human history, The Athens Marathon that commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield in the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C. As Marcolongo trains for her first marathon, she write down pretty much everything that comes to her mind, from how and why she decided to pick up running after years of sedentary lifestyle, late nights, questionable diet and (behold!) cigarette smoking, to how running changed her life, and eventually put her on the path of this herculean task of training for marathon.

Marcolongo's easy manner, and self-deprecating humor are sure to win over any reader. While I definitely recommend this book to all of my runner friends, I think anyone could enjoy it. As the title suggests there are many anecdotes about the  history of running, and sports in general in antiquity - and they are super entertaining to read about. And I challenge you not to attempt to go for a run right after finishing this book! lol

My favorite chapters were the one about the history of women's participation in the Olympics (I know, shocking!) And of course Marcolongo's account of her actually running her first marathon (because, let's admit it sometimes you just need to read about other folks' suffering to realize that your day really has not been THAT awful!😝

One point of contention is the fact that Marcolongo repeatedly mentions that running needs "no special training", that you do not really need to "learn how to do it" and that all humans can just do it naturally. I expect a lot of the running buffs to be really annoyed by this 🤣! I myself am sort of on the fence regarding this. Yes, in comparison to say, tenis, running is pretty intuitive, however, not all of us can just "get out of the house and run a mile". Depending on your overall fitness level, your gate, your posture, and especially your prior injuries you might benefit from taking it real slow (pun intended). I am convinced that most people would benefit from a bit of strength training before they attempt any type of running, let alone long distance. It is a very injury prone sport, and telling folks to just get out there and "do what they already know how to do" is probably not the most responsible thing in the world 🤷

All in all though, it has been an entertaining read that made me want to exercise more (a nice bonus lol)!

[erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

sweet dnf. couldn’t get into this.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was quite good, but it meanders and I could do without the diet-shaming and environmental take part of the book. A nice ode to running though. A nice, light read.

[Aaron McQuiston · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Lynch has talked about daydreaming being important to his creativity, and it is important to find a safe space to let your mind wander. In The Art of Running: Learning To Run Like a Greek, Andrea Marcolongo uses running as her safe space to sort out what running means to her and how she is continuing a tradition of running like Pheidippides and his twenty five mile run between Marathon and Athens that famously ended with him collapsing after announcing victory. This act by Pheidippides is the romanticized beginnings of the modern marathon, even though the Greeks themselves had no interest in running this far if it was not for a military reasons. With Marcolongo being a person who fell in love with ancient Greece as an teenager and running as an adult, it only makes sense that these two loves would eventually meet. The Art of Running is Marcologo’s journey in training for a marathon between Marathon and Athens, and she knows the best way for her to stick to training is to write a book along the way.

The book does have many insights into how the Greeks felt about running and althletics in general, but a majority of this book is Marcolongo’s insights into what running brings to her and what she feels like as a woman in her thirties training for her first (and possibly only) marathon. Some of the ideas that she brings up are interesting and honestly motivating for someone like myself who does run but struggles with consistency and with a pace that is growing slower and slower.

One of her observations that really strikes me:

“I don’t know if it’s the clearest sign of growing old, but at a certain point, without warning, the reserves of talent that we once greedily drew on begin to run low. It’s terrifying to find them gone, in short supply, insufficient. Replenishing them through training and dedication, physical and intellectual, is hard but necessary work.” p. 120

Not only is this something that puts a simple concept into words that make sense, it is something that can motivate those who have felt like they have lost a step, not only with running but with every talent. The truth about running is most runners, the largest population who will read a book about running, are in my age group (late forties) and older. When you participate in any sort of race, whether it be a 5k or a marathon, the most competitive categories are the 50s and 60s age groups. These are people who have switched from the talent of youth to discipline and training.

There are not many books on running, mostly because the idea of a book about running is pretty boring. Runners say “My sport is your sport’s punishment”, so many probably feel like a book about running would be punishment as well. Fortunately Andrea Marcolongo writes a book that is more about what athletics means, to her, to the Greeks, and to life in general, than about the day to day sludge of individual runs. Anyone who is a runner should pick this up because it fits well in a small library of motivating running books. Anyone who does not run should pick this up because it is not really about running as much as it is about how finding that safe space to let your mind wander, to connect concepts to one another, and to continue to work your talents even when it is no longer as easy to get results.

I received this book from Europa Editions in exchange for an honest review.

[KM · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's nothing quite like reading a runner's journey learning to run – and to live – like a Greek. That's how and why I borrowed the book The Art of Running by Andrea Marcolongo, who learned Ancient Greek at her liceo classico at the age of fourteen, and started her instinct to run along the Seine at the age of thirty-two.

She experienced the vital impulse at a similar age as Haruki Murakami (who started to run at the age of thirty-three, the age that Jesus Christ died, the age that Scott Fitzgerald started to go downhill). That has a lot to do with the fear of aging. She trained hard to run the marathon in Marathon. For history buffs and runners, the small town of Marathon needs little introduction; this is where the Athenian herald Pheidippides had started his run to Athens. Andrea Marcolongo insisted on running to see the Giants and Lapiths atop the Parthenon with her own two eyes, standing on her own two legs.

I love the way Andrea Marcolongo described running: that is her way to prove that she still has time, that adulthood (read: old age) is relative, that there is no end to youth if we dedicate ourselves to staying in shape.

[Aryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea Marcolongo sets out to answer a fundamental question that most amateur and recreational runners have asked themselves at least once while out on a run: why on earth did I decide to do this? While I have no idea how fast a runner Marcolongo is, her stories indicate that she isn’t an elite runner with blistering times. As a marathon runner who uses “finish” as the goal pace, it was easy to imagine Marcolongo as another member of my running club, hanging out in the middle of the pack, even if she does eschew running with a group. While I don’t agree with all of her opinions on running, a substantial part of the book felt like someone had taken my feelings about running and articulated them onto a page, much more eloquently than I ever could have. This is a fun blend of memoir, history lesson, and exploration of what it means to be a runner.

I received this book from the publisher for an honest review via NetGalley.

[coffee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't really like reading books that fall somewhere in the auto/biography category, but this was pretty interesting. It's not exactly either of those, but I really liked hearing about the author's experience of running and it took me back to the time I did my first (and so far only) marathon. I really hate running, but in the same way I hate to take a bath. Once I get in there, it's hard to get me out, LOL. I think I especially had fun with this because of how she parallels it with stories from the past and sprinkles in so many questions and curiosities I didn't think to ask. There are also a lot of little details I liked in general, such as how she always calls her partner "partner", mentions the paralympics, women in sports, her position in the world, etc. I'd love to read more books on the topic of running, especially if they're like this

[Greg Zimmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so desperate for new running books these days, I guess I'm kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. This book -- by an Italian classics scholar living in Paris -- is basically about why we run now when we don't have to. That's in contrast to the Greeks, who had to run to train for war (and of course, deliver news of victory). She trains for the Athens Marathon -- and realizes that while she loves running, she hates the marathon.

Fine, I guess, overall. The biggest positive: It definitely reinforces the idea that running is not just for physical fitness, it has huge mental health benefits, too. Which is not a groundbreaking idea, but it's one of the most important reasons why I run, so I loved that she emphasizes this point.

[Rui Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I wanted to enjoy her writing more but I'm not sure if it is the editing or the translation or her decision to write grandiose conjectures that are obviously hyperbole that makes me give three instead of four stars in my rating.

Overall, her book on running and training for her first marathon is good. But it is neither a scholarly work of academia nor an easy enjoyable account of her trials and tribulations.

It doesn't inspire me to pick up her other books to devour them as well.

Though I did lose my first copy of this book and ordered a second copy just to finish it and find out how she did.

Like everything else, easily forgettable. Sorry for the less than stellar review.

I'm also working on PKD's VALIS which is kicking my ass hard. My mind is a tuna melt with his writing.

[Susie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

{thank you to libro.fm for my copy of this book!}

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

As a semi-new runner (a casual runner; not a marathon runner), I found this book mostly enjoyable. However, I found it to be a little self indulgent and wish that it went into more of the history of running (I think the title misled me to think it would be more about Greek history) than the author's own experiences. I still enjoyed it though!

"Running is in fact the best antidote to my fear of dying. It's tangible proof, confirmation that, for today, and at least until tomorrow, I'm still in good health, still alive”

[Rogerio Cazelato · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is delightful in many ways. The writing is good and it flows easily. The author brings a certain levity to aspects of of the history and can connect those with contemporary cultural behaviors, around running and other aspects of life.
I don’t believe I had ever underlined so many little passages in a small book like I did with this one. As a runner myself, I’ve identified with so many sentences and even entire chapters.
She said things I wish I was saying them, but I’d never found the words myself.
It’s amazing how an author whose background has nothing to do with sports could bring so much wisdom about running. I will certainly read this book many times over.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read (read it in one sitting), this non-fiction book (rare for me) was just what I needed to get motivated to up my running to the next level. The author has studied the Greek language and Greek philosophy and sees a relationship with running which is really interesting. We follow her as she prepares for her first marathon in Athens. Fun reading for both runners and non-runners.

[mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like we reeeally lost the plot at some point. It meandered and rambled quite a bit, and don’t get me started on the repetitive words (translation?), points, and mentions that - did you know? - the author is running (eek!) a marathon.

The audiobook narration was enjoyable though, so…there’s that at least.

[Megan Rosol · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Italian classicist, who lives in Paris, trains for her first marathon in Athens and muses on her understanding of running from the ancient and the current prespective. It's an okay book but it would be more unique if the author leaned in more into the ancient roots of running and exercise.

[Karen Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to its running author for sharing her great journey. "Running is the best method for making peace with life that I've ever known" and lots of other great lines.

[Sorsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciated all the Classical references (mostly), I didn't totally love the way it was written. I'm almost certain this is simply a style preference.

[Katherine Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good parts, some long winded parts, some irritating parts, but honestly a nice ode to running

[Alta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words from my mouth

[Carissa Wiens]

It’s alright.

[Bryan Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like running, particularly if you are or recently have trained for a marathon, then you'll like this book. If not, you won't.