Marathon Marathon The marathon is a long-distance race, completed by running, walking, or a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. The marathon has an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 miles; 26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory. The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each
Hannover Marathon and Andrey Gordayev are the most successful male runners, having both had two back-to-back wins. Key: Hannover Marathon The Hannover Marathon is an annual road running event featuring races over the marathon, half marathon and 10 km distance that is held in May in the city of Hannover, Germany. Over 15,000 people took part in the day's races at the 2011 edition of the event. The half marathon attracts the highest number of entries from the public (over 5000) while the marathon race typically features up to 2000 runners annually. The marathon race holds IAAF Silver Label status and it