Foot Races and Other Field Events
The first race was in the stadion (stadium). The stadion was an oblong
area that was enclosed by the hills approximately 200 meters long. In the
stadion, there were starting gates for the runners, so that no runner would
have any advantage over another. Legend has it that the first race was
determined by how far Hercules could run in one breath. The stadia was
the first race to be run (one length of the stadion) for the first 12 Olympiads.
Beginning with the 13th Olympiad, races like the dioluss (2 stadion) and
then later, the dolichos (24 stadion, or 3.3 miles) were included in the
games. The runner would have to run down to the other end of the stadion
and run around a husplex (Greek for pole). Other races included the hoplite
races and the pentathalon. A hoplite race is a race that men would run
with armor on. However, in the games, to symbolize armor, the runner would
wear a helmet and carry a shield.
The pentathalon was the race of the "all-rounder." (Harris, 1972,
pg. 33) The origins of the pentathalon is not known. However, in Homer's
Iliad, there are references to funerals that include discus, javelin and
other running events. This may have included javelin, discus, running and
jumping (the 5th is unknown).
Each event had heats. A heat is a preliminary race to qualify the runner
for the next race. The Greeks were not used to running like this so most
athletes would not make it past the first few heats. Only the best runners
would make it to the finals (as in the modern Olympic games)..
In the ancient games, the dolichos was the longest race that an athlete
would run. Today, we have the marathon. The marathon was started in a
town called Marathon where in the First Persian War Pheidippides, the famous Athenian runner, was
ordered to run 24 miles to Athens and tell the people that the Persians had gone
home and the war was over. (There was no such thing as mail. In fact, most people could not read or write so they had to send messengers everywhere.)
Athens was not going to be destroyed after all. Pheidippides was a soldier
in the army. He grew faint and ill and died in the marketplace in Athens.
Field events included discus, javelin and long jump. The discus was
made of bronze that would be the prize for the winner. There is no evidence
that would make us conclude that they spun around before they threw the
discus, but they probably stretched their throwing arm. The javelin was
the closest contest to war training that there was. This was an event that
was a distance and target training. Not only would they have to throw the
javelin the farthest, but it had to be on target as well. This was also
so that they could see who was the best soldier. The Greeks also did jumping
events. The only jump known is the long jump. The only recorded jumps were
52ft and 55ft. Archeologists say that this may have been a combination
of jumps (maybe like our triple jump). This may be 2,3,4,5 or more jumps.