Marathon messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta asking for help, and then ran back, a distance of over each way. In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, and relates that the main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle, and fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched quickly back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day. In 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem "Pheidippides". Browning's
Vilnius Marathon Vilnius Marathon The Danske Bank Vilnius Marathon is an annual road marathon, held in Vilnius, Lithuania. The main sponsor of the marathon is Danske Bank. It was introduced in 2001 as 10k race and grew to a classic marathon in 2004. Half marathon was introduced in 2006. Quarter marathon was introduced in 2012. Member of AIMS from 2007. It's probably the fastest growing marathon in the Baltics. It tripled the number of participants between 2012 and 2015. In 2012 there were over 5000 runners, while 16424 runners ran the marathon in 2015. An estimated 20000 runners will run the marathon