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
Stockholm Marathon Stockholm Marathon The Stockholm Marathon, known as the "ASICS Stockholm Marathon" for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race. At the 2009 Stockholm Marathon more than 18,500 participants (14,442 men and 4,385 women) were registered. The marathon starts adjacent to the 1912 Olympic Stadium and consists of two loops around the city, finishing with a three-quarter lap around the tracks of the Olympic Stadium. Until and including the 2009 edition, the two loops around the city differed only slightly from each other, but the major part of