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ATHENS, Nov. 4-- The new medal of the "Athens Marathon, the Authentic" was revealed in Athens on Monday as the city is getting ready to welcome a new record of 60,000 runners from 120 countries and regions in all races on Nov. 9 and 10 for the 37th edition. Every runner who will cross the finish line inside the Panathenaic Stadium, the marble venue of the 1896 first modern Olympic Games, will receive the first medal of a new series, reflecting the history of the Marathon race, organizers said during a press conference. A total of eight different collective medals, one per year, will be awaiting runners until 2026 for the 130th anniversary of the first modern Marathon race, Kostas Panagopoulos, president of the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS) said. This year's medal will depict the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) between Athenians and Persians on one side, designed by Alekos Fasianos, one of the greatest contemporary Greek painters. Next year, it will be the legendary ancient soldier who first run the 42 km classic route from the Marathon battlefield to Athens, depicted on the medal in a design by Kostas Varotsos, another famous Greek artist. According to the legend the messenger informed Athenians of the victory (Nenikikamen in ancient Greek- we won) before dying of exhaustion. The basis of the new medal and the side which will be the same from now on depicting the Panathenaic stadium, was designed by Spyros Kizis, a young industrial designer. | 
