1. A footrace of 26 miles 385 yards.
2. Any long and arduous undertaking; SYN. endurance contest.
The marathon derives its name from the story of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who ran the distance of approximately 39 km/24 mi from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens with the news of a Greek victory over the Persians in 490 BC.
The current marathon distance was first used at the 1908 Olympic Games in London when the race was increased by an extra 385 yards so the race would finish in front of the royal box. The best known US marathons are run annually in Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles. + prikaži više