Marathon (sport)

The word marathon refers to a long-distance road running event of 42,195 m (26 miles and 385 yards).

Related Topics:
Road running - 42,195 m - Mile - Yard

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The name "marathon" comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who, according to legend, ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, and died shortly after. There is no evidence that any such event took place; according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Pheidippides in fact ran from Athens to Sparta. The legend that he ran from Marathon to Athens was invented by later writers and appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD. The International Olympic Committee estimates the distance from the Marathon battlefield to Athens as 34.5 km (21.4 miles).

Related Topics:
Pheidippides - Greek - Marathon - Athens - Battle of Marathon - Herodotus - Sparta - Plutarch

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