5. Did Pheidippides run from Marathon?

What Herodot is saying

In the footsteps of Pheidippides?

After publishing the the last blogpost, where we are indicating that Pheidippides started from Marathon beach — and therefore we changed the start point accordingly- Phil Simmonds, as earlier mentioened as of one the RAF expedition “pacers”, comments;

According to Herodotus Pheidippides left Athens and arrived in Sparta the next day. Why add on the unnecessary extra 42 k from Marathon?

And he continues:

If Ph had left Marathon just before the battle it would have been over by the time he got to Sparta. He was sent to try and get a Spartan army to come. He must have been sent, from Athens, several days before the battle, the Athenians having realized, or had information, that the Persians would land on Marathon beach.

Phil explains this by adding following section from Herodot:

While still in the city, the generals first sent to Sparta the herald Philippides, an Athenian and a long-distance runner who made that his calling. As Philippides himself said when he brought the message to the Athenians, when he was in the Parthenian mountain above Tegea he encountered Pan. Pan called out Philippides’ name and bade him ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, though he was of goodwill to the Athenians, had often been of service to them, and would be in the future. The Athenians believed that these…