Press releases

Posted date: Tue 8 September 2026

Tags: michel bréal, AIMS, marathon, marathon running, distance running, paris

AIMS Honours Michel Bréal as Marathon’s Founder Emeritus, Launches Global ‘Marathon Day’

AIMS has funded the complete restoration of the grave of Michel Bréal at Montparnasse Cemetery — the French philologist whose 1894 letter to Pierre de Coubertin proposed the race that became the Olympic marathon. To mark the anniversary of that letter, AIMS is naming Bréal ‘Founder Emeritus’ (a first-ever designation) and launching September 15 as an annual global ‘Marathon Day.’ The ceremony includes a tribute from Bréal’s great-great-granddaughter, remarks from Horst Milde (founder of the Berlin Marathon), and a historian from Haverford College on the marathon’s origins in Greece, followed by a press conference and access to the restored tomb for photos and video.

AIMS a honore Michel Bréal en tant que « fondateur émérite » du marathon et lance la « Journée mondiale du marathon »

L’AIMS a financé la restauration de la tombe de Michel Bréal et l’a nommé Fondateur Émérite, faisant du 15 septembre une « Journée mondiale du marathon » annuelle