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 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