Allien runner

Allien runner

Allien runner

Joseph Jones was secretly
From another planet
Living under cover
In the U.S.

He decided one day
To enter the Boston marathon
And knew that he could win it.

As he was in better shape
Than most human beings.

It was time to reveal
To the world
That aliens existed.

Living among humans
And aliens were our friends.

The race was on
And he won the race.

As the authorities congratulated him
He said he had a message
For Humanity.

I am not from your planet
I am from the planet Sirius
I we come in peace.

The authorities detain him
For questioning and testing
And he disappears.

The Boston Marathon organizers
Later say that this was all
A practical joke.


September 12, 490 BC is the traditional (but uncertain) date of the Battle of Marathon.

In the battle, the outnumbered Athenian army routed the invading Persian army, effectively ending Persia's first attempt to conquer the Greek city states, as well as inflicting a nasty "PR" defeat on the supposedly "invincible" Persian Empire.

Later historians reported (or invented) the story that, after the (perhaps unexpected) victory, a messenger named Pheidippides ran the 25 miles back to Athens to announce the victory, then promptly died of exhaustion.

This tale was seized upon during the creation of the international Olympic games in 1896, and thus the battle gave its name to the soon-popular road race. (Probably just as well; naming the race after the runner, making it a "pheidippides" or "pheidippidic", would be harder to remember. Or pronounce.)

For tomorrow, write a story or poem about a runner, which takes place during a marathon. To make it more interesting, though, give your protagonist some a primary goal or focus other than winning the race. (Though, of course, winning the race might be a secondary goal.) One of your genres must be SPORTS.