Marathon
A long-distance running event of 42.195 kilometres, named after the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE and the legendary run of a messenger bringing news of victory to Athens
The Meaning of Marathon
The marathon race commemorates events surrounding the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, when a vastly outnumbered Athenian force defeated the invading Persian army on the coastal plain of Marathon, roughly forty kilometres northeast of Athens. According to later tradition, a messenger — usually identified as Pheidippides — ran from the battlefield to Athens to announce the victory, gasping "We have won" before collapsing and dying from exhaustion. The historical Pheidippides actually ran from Athens to Sparta before the battle, covering approximately 240 kilometres in two days to request military aid. The conflation of these stories created the legend that inspired the modern marathon. When the Olympic Games were revived in Athens in 1896, a race from Marathon to Athens was included at the suggestion of the French philhellene Michel Breal. The distance was standardised at 42.195 kilometres at the 1908 London Olympics to accommodate the royal family's viewing preferences. The marathon has since become the premier endurance event in athletics and a global mass-participation phenomenon, with major city marathons attracting hundreds of thousands of runners annually.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
The standard marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres was fixed at the 1908 London Olympics so the race could finish in front of the royal box at the stadium
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Pheidippides' Run
💭 conceptendurance, message
The legendary run from Athens to Sparta (or Marathon to Athens) that inspired the modern marathon race, blending historical fact with mythological encounters.
Marathon
🏛 placePlain where Athens defeated Persia
Marathon was the coastal plain northeast of Athens where the Athenians defeated a much larger Persian force in 490 BC — the battle that saved Greek civilisation and inspired the modern marathon race.
Stadium
💭 conceptLanguage and athletics
An English word for a large sports venue, derived from the Greek stadion, both a unit of measurement of approximately 185 metres and the footrace of that distance at Olympia
Olympiad
💭 conceptAthletics and time-keeping
A four-year period between Olympic Games used as a dating system in ancient Greece, now applied to the modern Olympic Games and international athletic competition generally
Battle of Marathon
💭 conceptwar, divine intervention
The 490 BC battle where Athenian hoplites defeated Persia, believed by the Greeks to have been won with the aid of Pan, Theseus, and the hero Echetlus.
Isthmian Games
💭 conceptathletics, Poseidon
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Corinth every two years in honour of Poseidon, with victors crowned in pine or celery wreaths.
Goddess of Victory
💭 conceptVictory, triumph, speed, strength
Nike personifies victory in both war and peaceful competition, flying above battlefields to crown the worthy.
Olympic Games
💭 conceptAthletics, Zeus, Olympia
Panhellenic athletic festival held every four years at Olympia in honour of Zeus
Carneia
💭 conceptFestival, Apollo, Sparta
Spartan festival honouring Apollo Karneios with music contests and military rites
Olympian
💭 conceptExcellence, supreme achievement, athletic greatness
Pertaining to supreme mastery or athletic competition, from Mount Olympus, home of the gods.
Nemean Games
💭 conceptathletics, funeral
One of the four Panhellenic Games held at Nemea every two years, traditionally founded as funeral games for the infant Opheltes, with victors crowned in wild celery.
Panathenaea
💭 conceptfestival, athletics
The most important festival of Athens, held annually in honour of Athena with a grand procession, athletic contests, and the presentation of a new peplos to the goddess.