Long-distance running loss of Babylon: Running messengers are reported from early Sumer, were named "lasimu" as military men as well as the king’s officials who disseminated documents throughout the kingdom by running. Ancient Greece was famous for its running messengers, who were named "hemerodromoi", meaning “day runners”. One of the most famous running messengers is Pheidippides, who according to the legend ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory of the Greek over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. He collapsed and died as he delivered the message “we won”. While there are debates around the accuracy
Running in Ancient Greece of foot races in ancient Greece. The standard distance that these races were measured in was the "stade" (where one stadia is approximately 185 meters). The one-stade race was the most prestigious; the mythical founder of the Olympic Games could allegedly run it in one breath. Other running events included a two-stade race, and the "Dolichos", which was a long-distance race that was 20 or 24 stades long, or about two and a half miles. For races longer than one stade, runners would have to turn 180 degrees around a post at each of the two ends of the stadium