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,
Global Running Day countries pledged to run more than 9.2 million miles. New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, declared June 1, 2016 to be Global Running Day in the City of New York. 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi led a group run from the Boston Run Base, and the Atlanta Track Club organized a “run around the clock” event, where at least one person from the Atlanta metro area would be running every hour of Global Running Day. The Million Kid Run is the youth division of Global Running Day and aims to have one million kids around the world participate