Battle of Marathon of events, with the competitors running from Marathon to Athens. So popular was this event that it quickly caught on, becoming a fixture at the Olympic games, with major cities staging their own annual events. The distance eventually became fixed at 26 miles 385 yards, or 42.195 km, though for the first years it was variable, being around —the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens. Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon (Greek: , "Machē tou Marathōnos") took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea,
Spirit of the Marathon Salazar, Grete Waitz, Paula Radcliffe, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, and Kathrine Switzer provide commentary about the sport. The focus is then on the six featured runners and their training for the 2005 Chicago Marathon. American Deena Kastor and Kenyan Daniel Njenga are both elite runners, and are determined to win the race. Kastor was the bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympic Marathon, but has yet to win a marathon. Njenga had finished second multiple times in previous Chicago Marathons. Kastor is shown training and recovering from an injury in Mammoth Lakes, California, while Njenga's life as a sponsored runner in Tokyo is