I RAN MY FIRST MARATHON (why is it 26.2 miles?)

a portion of this video was sponsored by directv stream i'm shaking right now it's officially started i'm running your marathon five kilometers yeah 22 kilometers [Music] this is called a foam roller and i think it's supposed to make my muscles less sore ah i don't know if it's working but it sure does hurt ah so two weeks ago we flew to athens on a last minute flight that we found for 300 round trip on fair drop we were only supposed to be here in athens for a week and then we were supposed to fly back home to nashville that was until we were on a tour and the tour guide briefly mentioned that the original marathon like the one that inspired all the modern day marathons we know today was originally run here in greece 2500 years ago and uh that planted a seed 2021 has been the year of physical challenges here on the channel so it may not surprise you that i've been considering running my first marathon and i thought what a better place to ride my first marathon than on the route this inspired every other modern day marathon as luck would have it the actual athens marathon was taking place here in two weeks so i canceled my flight home i was supposed to stay put here in athens but some friends talked me into flying down to morocco and climbing the highest mountain in north africa this is incredible what a crazy journey that was four days ago and it was a terrible idea i am a very messy person i am not denying that but this apartment doesn't have a dryer and that's why there's clothes everywhere right now [Applause] all right so i'm heading down to the expo center to pick up my bib and my tracking chip and whatever else you need to run a marathon i'm telling you i signed up for this at the last minute as i tend to do with most things on this channel so i'm unprepared but we'll make the best of it it's about a two mile walk so i debated whether or not this was a good idea but i'm thinking this will be my last physical activity before tomorrow morning i've already messed it up but this is the route from marathon through the mountains back into athens a number 17 142. this little thing on the back is my tracking chip i'm so excited about this this man just gave me a gift there's no way this is making it home in one piece history isn't usually a strong point on this channel but i've been doing a lot of research because i want you to understand why this route is so special the story goes back to 490 bc when the greeks were fighting the persians in the city of marathon the outnumbered athenians ended up winning an unexpected victory over the persians marking the end of the first persian invasion in greece this is where the marathon part comes out after the battle was won a soldier wearing full armor ran back to athens as fast as he could to deliver the good news and legend has it that when he arrived he delivered the message nikki which means victory and then he collapsed and died and that is the run that inspired the modern day marathon hopefully that's not how my marathon ends tomorrow okay i need an appropriate backdrop to tell the next part of this story thank you thank you welcome to the first ever modern day olympic stadium built in 1896. the next evolution of the marathon took place in this exact location over 2 300 years later the last event of the 1896 olympics was a 24.85 mile run from the city of marathon to this stadium in athens and that to my knowledge is the first time that the marathon entered modern day racing but if you were paying attention the distance of that marathon falls short of what we know a marathon to be today by about a mile and a half the oddly specific distance of 26.2 miles which begs the question okay so the last thing i have to do is get all this camera stuff set up because not only am i attempting to run my first marathon but i'm also attempting to film it which should be interesting okay back to the story in 1908 the olympic games were being held in london and the british thought it would be nice if the marathon started in front of the windsor castle and then ended in the white city stadium in front of the royal family's viewing box the distance between those two places turned out to be 26.2 miles and even though that was longer than previous marathons i guess they just decided hey let's just go with it no one will notice well that led to 16 years of heated discussion in the running community about how long a marathon should be then in 1924 the olympics were being held in paris and they officially established the marathon to be 26.2 miles and based on all my research it's been that way ever since do we think um this is gonna be too heavy to run with tomorrow i think yes but it's also all i have so [Music] that normal [Music] i'm doing it today's the day since the marathon isn't a loop we have to go get on a bus and get shuttled to the start line which requires waking up very early [Music] [Music] okay we've made this marathon i feel like riding in that bus for the last hour is the first time i've been able to put 26 miles in perspective i cannot believe i'm about to run but we just drove for an hour thank you the amount of cream that i've seen people rubbing on their bodies is very concerning on their nipples down their pants under their arms i mean [Music] it's like trying to use those fruit bags at the grocery store i guess you poke your own holes okay so apparently this classy bag is supposed to keep me warm for the next hour until the race thank you we just had to drop off all of our clothes so they can get shuttled back to athens while we run i've been looking forward to this waffle all morning i'm gonna be honest i don't know if you can see all the people running around the track behind me but i really don't understand that isn't that what we're about to go do for the next five hours okay i'm in the starting block i don't know if it's because i'm cold or nervous but it's probably a combination of both all right my block is making its way to the starting line now and it seems like a good time to tell you that the furthest i have ever run in my entire life is 13 miles earlier this summer and that was with the donkey and there was a lot of walking literally pulling a donkey down a hill i mean i run for fun like to stay healthy and stay in shape but i don't think anything i've done can be considered training for a marathon 30 seconds good evening from dallas texas it is about 1am i am sleeping on the floor of my nephew's nursery and i stayed up to see nate start the race i have this app where i can track his progress i wish i could just sit here and watch the whole thing and keep up but babies are tiring nate it makes me so sad that i'm not there to cherry one but i know you're gonna do so well because you always do you're amazing and i love you and i can't wait to wake up and hear about it in the morning [Music] okay we're doing it it's officially started i'm running a marathon i know this is gonna hurt i just don't know how bad wow i have so much adrenaline right now okay we're out of earshot of the announcements and the music well you can hear is just the pounding of people's feet on the pavement this is gonna be my life for the next five hours right now it doesn't hurt yet and i just i can't stop smiling i'm actually doing it thank you so i've been eagerly waiting to announce the completion of my first mile and then i realized we're in greece there are gonna be mile markers so i just passed kilometer three i'm gonna have to reframe how i narrate this marathon today i'm not running 26.2 miles i'm running 42 kilometers oh thank you it's hard to drink water and run it feels so weird running around other people i found myself running slow behind some people and then every time i pass somebody i'm like oh no am i starting too fast there's so many questions in my head right now i'm just pumped to be writing if you can't tell i'm also talking a lot right now because i figure the further we get into this you know good work everyone thank you thank you five kilometers yeah feeling good maybe i shouldn't drink that water wow look at that oh that's inspiring if she can do it i can do it way to go seven okay i learned another fun fact about the course this morning this is actually the exact same course that they ran in the 2004 olympics this is the guy that won so uh i don't know what my time's going to be but i know it's going to be slower than that also i think i'll be just as happy as him if i finish no matter what the time is eight nine let's go okay 10k that's about how hard running if i was just going out for a jog so feeling good having so much fun about to try to squeeze the first goo down my throat that's kind of good 11. i didn't realize it but the first 10 kilometers were all on perfectly flat ground and now we're hitting the hills [Music] 12 over a quarter of the way by so fast [Music] this is so great what are the olive leaves for uh this is for peace just for peace and have a good uh road thank you so much you're welcome have a good one there's been a lot of people along the route handing out all the branches he said it was for peace thank you thank you thank you i usually don't drink any water when i run this is great good luck hey appreciate it yeah what's up how are you buddy have you ever run a marathon before no no no okay me either no no we're on the same page nice good luck buddy all right how we going 13. unfortunately that's in kilometers and not miles so we're not halfway that's 14. first banana of the trip this doesn't feel super hygienic but i think my body needs it the harder breath is this thing in my mouth 15. whoo this is a serious hill after the mountain climb a few days ago the downhill hurts the legs worse than the up 18. where are you from please from here have you done this before once twice three times three times wow you're an inspiration 19. you've run in those before hitting those sandals yeah they are called ranches and i did a lot of a lot of marathons and ultra marathons using these shoes wow well i like your outfit have a good race thank you thank you very much 11 20. that feels like a nice number 21. oh that's halfway and i think i'm almost exactly two hours this is going way better than expected i think this right here is actually exactly halfway 22 kilometers this is officially the furthest i've ever run in my entire life but it's all about perspective because i guarantee if i was riding a half marathon i wouldn't have a single ounce of energy left in my body but because i know i have to do all this again i barely even tired i feel like the people around me that know at the end of a marathon really feels like you're laughing at me right now but that's how i feel but this is why i push myself to do hard things because every step after this i'll learn something about myself i'll learn how much more capable i am and then that leads to something bigger and better at the end of this i don't know what it'll be but a new realm of possibilities will be open that's 23. 24. what was your name he watches the videos nice to meet you nice to meet you they're friends and they've done the marathon like this three times and they've been ahead of me the whole time i had to write as fast as i could to catch up with them good job guys 26 i think i actually like tracking this in kilometers instead of only having 26 wins i get 42. it's like a little accomplishment a lot faster 27. i think we're starting to get in to the city of athens right now and this is the energy i needed still smiling on the outside those are not exactly smiling 28. the first time in the athens 29. number three kilometer 30. oh wow this is a big hill i'm just under three hours i've had this terrible idea for a while now but i haven't wanted to say out loud but i think if i kill myself for the next hour i can go under four hours total and that would be a pretty awesome way to my first marathon i'm generally kara's motto right now future nate loves pass pain future nate close past pain the next hour is going to suck but i got to remember this forever so i'm going to push i have the it it's so mental at this point in the race let's just say i'm a little uncomfortable but i got this i'm multiplying comfortable by 10 and you probably know how i'm feeling at this point i was having trouble putting together cohesive thoughts what i was trying to say was i wanted to tell you how bad my body was hurting but at the same time i i just couldn't admit it to myself out loud and side said it's all downhill from here but it feels uphill that's 33. single digit kilometers left to go 34. 36 i think they're getting longer 37. just one more five k left to go 38 hello american embassy really is some help right now forty two more okay i'm gonna admit it to myself i'm getting it out right now it hurts so bad but let's go last kilometer i'm either gonna throw up or die i'm not sure which [Applause] there it is the stadium 100 yards ago [Music] what an incredible opportunity i'm doing my best to enjoy through the pain i did it oh i ran my first marathon vicky i don't think i made it in under four hours no matter what i'm proud because that was all i had to give this is the current state of my legs [Music] i am a broken man right now thank you this is the hardest i've ever worked to earn anything oh it kind of feels surreal right now wow i know it's not a gold medal but it feels like one to me i that's it i'm finished i love you i can't believe i just did that this is nick and ally and they're the reason that i have footage that's not me just going so thank you guys so much i appreciate it absolutely thanks for all the encouragement as well [Music]

Channel: Kara and Nate

Views: 706,201

Keywords: running a marathon, running a marathon without training, marathon without training, marathon running, first marathon, long distance running, greece marathon, athens marathon, athens marathon 2021, athens marathon route, athens marathon the authentic, kara and nate, travel, travel vlog, greece vlog, marathon vlog, directv, directv stream, directv watch online, on demand, on demand tv, directv packages, live sports, tv, marathon to athens, original marathon, full time travel

Id: FcajKmro8N0

Length: 18min 27sec (1107 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 15 2021