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,
Fukuoka Marathon new world standard. The Fukuoka Marathon is the third-longest running competition of its type in Japan, being established two years after the Lake Biwa Marathon and one year after the Kochi Marathon. This makes it the tenth longest running annual marathon race in recorded history. The competition has hosted the men's marathon championship race numerous times: it first held the event in 1955 and then hosted the race on a biennial basis from 1963 to 1997. It now hosts the national championship race once every three years, on a rotational basis alongside the Lake Biwa and Tokyo Marathons. Male runners