Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon The men's marathon event was a special race invented as part of the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. Michel Bréal originated the idea of a race from the city of Marathon to Athens, taking inspiration from the legend of Pheidippides. The first such marathon race was a Greek national competition that served as a qualifier for the Olympic marathon, won by Charilaos Vasilakos. The length of the marathon in 1896 was approximately 40 km (25 mi). Twenty-five athletes traveled to Marathon for the race from there to Athens, though
Porto Half Marathon Porto Half Marathon The Porto Half Marathon (Portuguese: "Meia-Maratona do Porto") is an annual half marathon road running event held in Porto, Portugal which follows the River Douro. Known as the Sportzone Half Marathon for sponsorship reasons, the inaugural edition was held in 2007 and it typically takes place every mid-September. The competition attracts top level elite athletes, mainly East African and Portuguese. Since its inception, all the men's and women's races have been won by East African competitors. Among those to top the men's podium are Olympic champions Haile Gebrselassie and Samuel Wanjiru, while former world champion over 10,000