The Spirit of the Marathon, Stylianos Kyriakides

In tribute to one of the Boston Marathon’s most powerful stories, Spirit of the Marathon honors 1946 champion Stylianos Kyriakides—a survivor, a symbol of resilience, and, to many, the Marathon’s first charity runner. The towering statue stands at mile one, marking not just distance, but legacy.

This 12-foot tall statue that stands at the 1-mile mark of the Boston Marathon route. Commissioned by New Balance, coordinated by the Hopkinton Athletic Association (the former name of the 26.2 Foundation) and unveiled in 2006, the ‘Spirit of the Marathon’ depicts Spyridon Louis, Greek winner of the first modern Olympic marathon, in 1895, showing the way forward.

Flanking him is a fellow Greek, Stylianos Kyriakides, one of Boston’s greatest underdog stories. Kyriakides won the 50th Boston Marathon in 1946 against all odds, having survived the horrors of occupation of WWII Greece. He then turned his achievement into an opportunity to highlight the plight of his nation, still starving and rebuilding from the war.

A twin version of the statue stands in Marathon, Greece, Hopkinton’s sister city.

About the Artist: Mico Kaufman (1924–2016) was a prominent Romanian-American sculptor based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. He was renowned for his work in bronze and was a recipient of the Sculpture of the Year award from the National Sculpture Society. His career spanned decades, during which he created numerous public monuments and inaugural medals for U.S. Presidents.