Where did the marathon come from?

Answer 1

A runner ran the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens to take news of a great battle.

The race distance changed to its current length at the last London Olympics, it changed to make sure the race ended where the royal family were watching from.

Answer 2

The legend...

The year was 490 BC, the Greeks had defeated the Persians at the Marathon Battle and Pheidippides had the task to bring the good news to the city of Athens.

He ran about 35 km from Marathon to Athens and, when he arrived, Pheidippides just had the strength to say "we won", and fall down dead!

In fact there isn't any proof of this legend, but the story was good and inspired the competition that happened for the first time in the Athens 1896 Olympic Games.

Even though this legend is remarkable, the real story is even more amazing!

The real story is even more amazing...

If you found amazing an emissary run 35 km uphill from the Marathon plain to the city o Athens, then wait for the true story!

The truth is that Pheidippides was in charge of an even more arduous and important mission. When the Persian army was coming to destroy Athens, Pheidippides had the task to go to Sparta, distant 240 km, and ask for their help... Running!

Yes, running! Since the path was too uneven for horses, just a runner emissary could cover the distance in time.

And then Pheidippides ran the 240 km in two days, just to arrive in Sparta and get a "No" as response. The Spartans were celebrating the Artemis festival and refused to help. And then Pheidippides had to come all the way back to Athens bringing the bad news, running.

If you think Pheidippides running skills was a peculiar case, know that the Athenians defeated the Persians through the running.

Pheidippides wans't the only runner

Pheiddipides wasn't the only serious runner among the Greeks and physical education was a key element in the army training. In fact, it was due to their running skills that the Athenians defeated the Persians. How?

The Persian's plan was simple: land on Marathon plain, fight against the small Athenian army and then contour the seacoast and invade Athens by the unprotected south.

When Pheiddipides returned with the news that the Spartans wouldn't help them, the Athenians army, consisted of 10,000 men, decided to do a fast attack against the 25,000 Persians that had landed on the Marathon plain.

The unexpected attack was successful and the Persians were expelled back to their ships. Then the second phase of the Persian plan began: navigate by 8-10 hours until the unprotected Phaleron beach.

It was this time that the Athenians had to use their running skills. After a battle that lasted a whole day, the Athenians still had to run 40 km until Phaleron beach to impede the Persian invasion.

In what could be considered the first marathon of the history, the first Athenians achieved Phaleron in about 5-6 hours and, about a hour before the Persians arrived there, all the Greeks were already on the beach ready for the battle. This running was crucial for the Athenians victory.

The Persians couldn't believe in their eyes when, arriving at Phaleron, they saw the Athenian army! In the spite of their superior number of soldiers, the Persian were scared with the Athenians that seemed to be super-men. The Persian fleet navigated for more some days searching in vain for a safe harbor to land. Then the Persians decided to withdraw defeated.

Answer 3

The original Greek marathoner 490 B.C. - Legend has it that Phidippides ran the 24.8 miles from the small town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon. He collapsed and died after he carried the news of the victory.

The modern Marathon commemorates his feat. In honor of Phidippides, the 24.8 mile marathon became part of the Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. A year later, the Boston Marathon was held for the first time, making it the oldest marathon race in the United States.

and pretty much what cammsters said....

Answer 4

The word and basic idea of the modern marathon actually came out of the Battle of Marathon where the Greeks defeated the Persians led by Darius I. According to some accounts, after the battle, a Greek runner ran to Athens to announce the victory and prevent Persian forces from obtaining a landing there. He then collapsed and died.

There is, of course, much more about the battle that can be easily obtained on the Internet. A very good, concise account can be found at Wikipedia. There is also a history of the marathon itself available (link below).

Answer 5

The name "marathon" comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who, according to legend, was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city, he collapsed dead. There is no evidence that any such event took place; according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Pheidippides was a messenger who 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 actual distance from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens is about 34.5 km (21.4 miles).

Answer 6

Greek wars supposedly a messenger was sent from Athens I think to marathon to tell them they had won the battle and he ran all the way which was twenty five miles.

Answer 7

The legend goes that in ancient Greece when there were the city/states, somebody was at war with Sparta. The winning army sent back a runner to the city to announce the victory. He ran 26.2 miles over very rough and hilly terrain to announce the victory word " Nike " before he died.

Answer 8

Wow, guy, have you ever been so intense on endorphins that you idea you would by no skill come down?????? recurring lengthy-distance runners change into addicts of varieties... i understand, because i changed into one. As their body will change into extra & extra conditioned to the placed on & tear of those countless miles, the time for the "vast rush" on endorphines will change into more beneficial & more beneficial... runners actually come to crave this "intense" and would even experience "withdrawl" if unable to run for more beneficial than a pair days. with the exception of, i have witnessed in myself and others, one of those clinical melancholy that ought to contain the cessation of operating for any prolonged era of time... As a runner, your metabolism is so more beneficial that there is no way you could overeat once you're practise for the large marathon... the tendency is to "lower than devour" because the tummy has a tendency to cut back because the washboard abs arrive. yet sure, a runner can come to appear like "Starvin' Marvin" through the years, because they are "speed freaks" of varieties... i will say this although, i have by no skill had a weight problem, even after i finished operating those lengthy distances... and there is no longer something like a lengthy run, to bathe the best & plan for the week!

Answer 9

Greece

Answer 10

Greece. Or, more precisely, Athens.


(Actium, maybe?)

Okay, so I'm not so sure about precision...Somebody knowledgeable...help.