Paris – September 12, 2026 -- The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) has funded the complete restoration of Michel Bréal's grave at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris, including a new memorial stone, and will mark the work with a ceremony on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 14:00 to 15:00.
AIMS names Michel Bréal 'Founder Emeritus' for the first time
The organization, which represents 470 marathons and distance races across more than 120 countries, is conferring on Bréal the honorary title of Founder Emeritus in recognition of the 1894 letter he wrote to Pierre de Coubertin proposing a race from Marathon to the Pnyx for the revived 1896 Olympic Games. Bréal, a Collège de France professor and classical philologist who never competed in athletics, personally commissioned and funded the winner's silver trophy, awarded to Spyridon Louis at the first modern Olympics.
September 15 becomes an annual global 'Marathon Day'
AIMS President Paco Borao said the association intends to celebrate the date every year going forward, tying the observance to the anniversary of Bréal's 1894 letter. The restoration was jointly organized by AIMS, ARTMARATHON, and the Michel Bréal Society, after AIMS had previously contributed only to routine maintenance of the grave in 2012.
Ceremony draws Olympic historians and Berlin Marathon founder
The program includes remarks from 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-great-granddaughter, will deliver a family tribute, followed by keynotes from Haverford College Professor Emeritus Alexander Kitroeff on the marathon's significance to modern Greece and Berlin Marathon founder Horst Milde on Bréal's influence on that race. ARTMARATHON President Benedikt Morandi and Michel Bréal Society Deputy Chairman Hans W. Giessen will moderate, followed by a press conference from 15:00 to 15:30 and a viewing of the restored tomb.
Trophy Bréal funded sold for £541,250 at Christie's in 2012
The Marathon Cup Bréal commissioned from a Paris jeweler remained in the Louis family for over a century before selling at Christie's in London on April 18, 2012, for £541,250. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation acquired the trophy, which remains on public display in Greece. Bréal died in 1915 and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery, where his grave had fallen into disrepair before this year's restoration.
The Paris ceremony follows Landau, Germany -- Bréal's birthplace -- launching its own annual Bréal-Marathon in October 2024, driven by the Michel Bréal Society.