There are people we encounter in life who simply leave us speechless. Sometimes it is because of their athletic ability, their artistic and creative exploits, people of great generosity belongs there to. Then along comes Billy Coulter and all the others pale in comparison.
Billy has run in twenty-two Boston Marathons. He is running tomorrow in his last race. While that's a remarkable feat in itself that's only as small portion of the story of Billy Coulter.
In the article, "The Battle that Changed Human History", historian Paul Ostapuk describes how Athens survived the invasion of the Persians in 490 B.C. A heroic man by the name of Phidippides rose to the occasion and to this day is viewed as the man who saved Greece from eastern invasion and is still revered by Greeks for his courage.
Here are the words of Ostapuk:
"The Persian Empire over the years expanded to the Mediterranean Sea. In the process some Greek settlements were conquered. Ionia was one such settlement. After many years, they tried to revolt against the Persians but the uprising was immediately squashed by the powerful Persian Army.
"By the year 490 B.C., the Persian Army was ready to expand their territory and move into Europe. They landed a large force just outside of Athens on the plains of Marathon and prepared for attack.
"The Athens, vastly outnumbered, desperately needed the help of Sparta's military base to help fend off the attack. Time was short, so the Athenian generals sent Phidippides (or Philippides) a professional runner to Sparta to ask for help. The 140 mile course was very mountainous and rugged.
"Phidippides ran the course in about 36 hours. Sparta agreed to help but said they would not take the field until the moon was full due to religious laws. This would leave the Athenians alone to fight the Persian Army.
"Phidippides ran back to Athens (another 140 miles!) with the disappointing news. Immediately, the small Athenian Army (including Phidippedes) marched to the plains of Marathon to prepare for battle.
"The Athenian Army was outnumbered 4 to 1 but they launched a surprise offensive thrust which at the time appeared suicidal. But by day's end, 6400 Persian bodies lay dead on the field while only 192 Athenians had been killed. The surviving Persians fled to sea and headed south to Athens where they hoped to attack the city before the Greek Army could re-assemble there.
"Phidippides was again called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and the warning about the approaching Persian ships. "Despite his fatigue after his recent run to Sparta and back and having fought all morning in heavy armor, Phidippides rose to the challenge. Pushing himself past normal limits of human endurance, he reached Athens in perhaps 3 hours, delivered his message and then died shortly thereafter from exhaustion. Sparta and the other Greek polies eventually came to the aid of Athens and eventually they were able to turn back the Persian attempt to conquer Greece.
"Greek victory marked one of the decisive events of world history because it kept an Eastern power (the Persians) from conquering what is now Europe. The victory gave the Greeks incredible confidence in themselves, their government and their culture."
Phidippides was indeed the first Marathon Man. Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant Billy Coulter certainly ranks up there with the courage of Phidippides.
You see, Billy Coulter was diagnosed last June with incurable cancer of the head and neck. He cannot ingest solid food and nor can he manufacture saliva. According to an article in The Boston Sunday Herald by Laurel J. Sweet, Lt. Coulter will need to "stop every couple of miles to take in twelve ounces of water or Gatorade through a tube inserted in his stomach."
There will be 20,450 runners in the race but none will exemplify the spirit of Phidippides more than Billy Coulter.
As Paul Harvey often says, "Now you know the rest of the story."
RUN BILLY, RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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