AIMS names Michel Bréal Founder Emeritus and launches annual Marathon Day

AIMS has restored Michel Bréal’s grave in Paris and given the marathon’s originator its first-ever Founder Emeritus title. The group is also setting September 15 as an annual global Marathon Day tied to Bréal’s 1894 letter that helped create the modern race.

Why it matters: - Michel Bréal’s idea became the modern marathon, one of the world’s most widely run race distances. - AIMS is turning that origin story into a recurring global observance on September 15. - The move gives the marathon a formal commemorative day and a public memorial site in Paris.

What happened: - AIMS funded the full restoration of Michel Bréal’s grave at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. - The restoration includes a new memorial stone. - A ceremony marking the work is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. - AIMS, ARTMARATHON and the Michel Bréal Society jointly organized the restoration. - AIMS is naming Bréal “Founder Emeritus,” the first time the title has been awarded. - AIMS is launching September 15 as an annual global “Marathon Day.”

The details: - Sept. 15 marks the anniversary of Bréal’s 1894 letter to Pierre de Coubertin proposing a race from Marathon to the Pnyx for the 1896 Olympic revival. - Bréal was a professor at the Collège de France and a leading classical philologist. - Bréal was present beside Coubertin at the closing banquet of the Sorbonne Congress on June 23, 1894, where the modern Olympic Games were formally founded. - The 1896 Athens program listed a running event called “Marathon.” - Bréal commissioned and funded the winner’s silver trophy from a Paris jeweler. - Spyridon Louis, a Greek substitute runner, won the race and became the first Greek Olympic champion. - The trophy stayed in the Louis family for more than a century before selling at Christie’s in London on April 18, 2012, for £541,250. - The Stavros Niarchos Foundation later acquired the trophy so it could remain on public display in Greece. - Bréal died in 1915 and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery. - The Michel Bréal Society sought support after the grave fell into disrepair. - AIMS had contributed to routine maintenance in 2012, but this year’s funding covers a full restoration and a new memorial stone. - AIMS represents 470 marathons and distance races in more than 120 countries. - AIMS says its broader mission includes promoting distance running and the friendship among peoples that it fosters. - Learn more at AIMS.

Between the lines: - The restoration and new title elevate Bréal from a historical footnote to an officially recognized founder of marathon culture. - The annual observance gives AIMS a way to connect elite races, local events and marathon history under one date. - The Paris ceremony also reinforces the European roots of a race now defined by global participation. - AIMS is linking its tribute to the broader sports-calendar trend of creating heritage days around defining moments and figures.

What’s next: - The Paris ceremony will include welcome remarks from AIMS President Paco Borao, Michel Bréal Society President Prof. Heinz-Helmut Lüger and a representative from the Office of the Mayor of Paris. - Henrietta Parsons, Bréal’s great-granddaughter, will deliver a family tribute. - Alexander Kitroeff, professor emeritus of history at Haverford College, will speak on the marathon’s significance to modern Greece. - Horst Milde, founder of the Berlin Marathon, will discuss Bréal’s influence on that race. - Benedikt Morandi and Hans W. Giessen will moderate the program. - The event will end with a press conference and a viewing of the restored tomb. - AIMS intends to celebrate Marathon Day every year on Sept. 15. - Landau, Germany, Bréal’s birthplace, launched its own annual Bréal-Marathon in October 2024.

The bottom line: - AIMS is using a grave restoration, a new honorary title and a calendar day to formally anchor Michel Bréal’s legacy in marathon history.