According to Herodotus, Pheidippides was an Athenian herald who was sent to request help from Sparta before the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C., covering 150 miles in two days. At the conclusion of the battle, he ran the 22 miles back to Athens, where he reportedly shouted "Rejoice! We conquer!" before dying of exhaustion. This legend is attributed as the inspiration for the modern Marathon.

The Pheidippides Order was founded by Sarah Puffer in Green Hope's first Cross Country season, and is awarded by members of the Order to runners who "raise the bar". This award commends hard work, dedication and leadership by example.

This award is unlike any other awarded to Green Hope runners because not only is it conferred by the runners themselves, the award is a legacy award. At any one time, there are four runners (2 men and 2 women) on the team who have the award. Each senior member passes the award on to another runner, so the number of members inducted each year varies.

Pheidippides Order Inductees

Boys 1999 Adam Johnson, Craig Thomas 2000 Brian Schenck 2001 Jeff Clement 2002 Keith O'Hare 2003 Adam Burk, Alex Warren 2004 Andy Hrnicek 2005 Adam Hrnicek, Nate Youd 2006 Zak Roshdy 2007 Scott Hefner 2008 Kevin Mulder, Bryan Spreitzer 2009 Thomas Sartori, Rishi Simha

Girls 1999 Lauryn Ulma, Meredith Urban 2000 Kelly D'Alessandris 2001 Mary Ann Rutz 2002 Sarah Rivers 2003 Brittany Johnson 2004 Lauren Svitanek 2005 Megan Brower 2006 Danielle Johnson, Jenna Lang 2007 Lindsey Moore, Sarah Wilt 2008 Olivia Enright, Lauren Riedle 2009 Olivia Brown