Pikermi Mucho
I don’t hang with the cool kids, so it came as a surprise to me to learn that some of them are calling the half-marathon the “pikermi” (pronounced “pee-KER-mee”). Of course, they have a web site and sell t-shirts. Their slogan is, “Because 13.1 miles should not be considered half of anything!”
What does pikermi mean? Well, Pikermi is small Greek town about 13.1 miles from Marathon on the road to Athens. What is it known for? Well, uh, nothing really except being halfway between Marathon and Athens.
Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Besides, if Pheidippides had stumbled into Pikermi crying “Nενικήκαμεν!” the Pikermites would have said, “Thanks for the news, but you’ve got another 13.1 to go, dude.”
I think we should adapt one of Nitmos’ suggestions: the triskaidekathon. Now that’s Greek to me!
Thanks for posting this Mike! This started with one of the bloggers at Runners World’s Loop (their online community) writing a post about how SO many of us liked the 13.1 distance but the name “half” didn’t do it justice… like it’s not a “real race, it’s just half of something” so he proposed a name change… there was also an article in NY Times about how the half was the most growing distance but the name was a turnoff… so we all thought it was a great idea and formed our group! and got t-shirts… You can be cool too!! I reposted your post here!
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