Marathon, Greece Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, "Marathónas"; Attic/Katharevousa: , "Marathṓn") is a town in Greece and the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. The name "Marathon" () comes from the herb fennel, called "marathon" () or "marathos" () in Ancient Greek, so "Marathon" literally means "a place full of fennels". It is believed
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