Runner (soldier) wounded twice and received both the Iron Cross first class and second class during the war. Runner (soldier) A runner was a military courier, a foot soldier responsible for carrying messages during war. Runners were very important to military communications, before telecommunications became commonplace. The Ancient Greek semi-historical character of Pheidippides is said to have been the runner bringing the news of the Greek victory over the Persians from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC. Even though field telephones were widely used for the first time during World War I (1914–18), they relied on copper wire lines, which were often
Marathon Dam a replica and commemorates a victory at Marathon in wrestling from nature its life giving water for the citizens of Athens." The dam's face and visible structure were also covered in the same Pentelikon marble that was used to construct the Parthenon. Marathon Dam The Marathon Dam is a gravity dam on the Charadros River, near its junction with the Varnavas Stream, west of Marathon and northeast of Athens in Greece. The dam created Lake Marathon for the primary purpose of municipal water supply. Constructed between 1926 and 1929, it was the sole supplier of water to Athens until 1959.