Running in Ancient Greece Athens to Sparta and then back to Marathon in 490 BCE. He was sent to gain the help of the Spartans against the attack of the Persian army in Marathon. In 1896, at the first modern Olympics, the very first modern-day marathon was run. To honor the history of Greek running, Greece chose a course that would mimic the route run by Pheidippides. The race course covered . The route started at a bridge in the town of Marathon and ended in the Olympic stadium reference perseus project. Another event in the ancient Olympic Games was the pentathlon. The pentathlon
Running in Ancient Greece and wealthy admirers would often give large gifts to successful athletes. Though foot races were physically challenging, if successful, athletes could become very wealthy. The ancient Greeks developed running as a sport into a sophisticated field of science and philosophy. In the ancient sources, training is often discussed. However, details about how the training of runners compared to the training of other types of athletes are not clearly addressed. In ancient Greece, athletes might not have been as specialized as they are today. It is likely that a single athlete would have trained for, and competed in, many different events