The First Marathon Facts

first marathon

First Marathon

In 490 BCE, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, ran from Marathon to Athens (about 25 miles) to inform the Athenians the outcome of the battle with invading Persians.  The distance was filled with hills and other obstacles; thus Pheidippides arrived in Athens exhausted and with bleeding feet.  This Greek solider was in essence the first marathon runner.

first marathon

After telling the townspeople of the Greeks\’ success in the battle, Pheidippides fell to the ground dead.  In 1896, at the first modern Olympic Games, held a race of approximately the same length in commemoration of Pheidippides.  This is the origin of what we today call and execute marathons.  Marathons are now a very common running race or contest that is used for professional competition and to raise awareness for causes and charities.

Runner’s World is excellent at staying current with all marathons and training methods.   

Nature Facts:

World Facts:

Science Facts:



Nutrition Facts:


Things To Do:



9 Comments on “The First Marathon Facts”

  1. Interesting fact, though not in it’s entirety. Pheidippides was an expeirenced runner who covered even greater distances to deliver messages for Marathon. Prior to this epic run, he had delievered armor to neighboring allies and also fought in the battle. Did they have Red Bull back then?

  2. This is a total lie! The distance from marathon to Athens is over 100miles. The length of the marathon was decided in London when they wanted it to start at the palace and end in the stadium which was just over 26miles away!

  3. actually, the fact stated is a fact, look on google maps, marathon is 15-20 miles from athens, if you go direct in straight line. that probably wasnt possible as he had to take road ways to know where hes going. i cant possibly see why you would think its 100 miles.

  4. 100 miles distance between Marathon and Athen?? Boy the country is not that long from side to side. Lolol I could imagine if that runner went from 26 miles to 100 miles…if he were drunk and was running zig-zagging. Lololol

  5. I’m know that Pheidippides ran more than just those 25 miles back to Athens. Due to the technology and geology of Greece in those days, runners like him were the primary form of communication. Previous to the victory at Marathon, he was sent to run all the way to Sparta (around 150 miles away) to ask for the aid of the Spartans, then he ran all the way back. Also note that he did these 300 or more miles within 4 days, on mountainous terrain, without comfy running shoes, so he was probably worn out previous to his run back to Athens.

Leave a Reply to Knowitall Cancel reply
