Have you ever wondered what a marathon is and how it came into being? Well…a marathon is a running event with a distance of 42.195 km. Most marathons take place in the form of a road race although there are some that are in the form of a cross country or on uneven roads.
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The origin of the marathon begins around 490BC at the time when the Persians were invading Greece. The most popular legend tells of a Greek messenger: Pheidippides who was tasked with the mission of informing the peoples of Athens that the Greeks have defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon. Pheidippides who viewed the mission as important set off on foot and ran non-stop. Upon reaching the gates of Athens, he stormed into the government assembly and proclaimed the Greek victory where he fell to the ground and died thereafter due to exhaustion.
How then is the distance of the marathon derived? The distance of the two cities i.e., Greece and Athens is approximately 40.8km along the longest southern route. And this was also the route used during the first Olympic Games back in 1896. Ever since, the marathon has been part of the Olympics and it is also an endurance event to end the games. The standard distance for a marathon is now 42.195km which also explains why a half marathon is 21.1km.
