A marathon is a popular long distance
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, which requires a lot of effort to complete. The distance goes from 26 miles to 385 yards (more than 42 kilometers). The word marathon has its
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in ancient history, as it gets its name from a
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twon in Greece.
On September 12th, 490 BC, an important battle took place at Marathon between the Athenian Army and Persian invaders. The invading army were
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, and an Athenian general sent a Greek
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to Athens to announce the news of the victory. The town was about forty kilometres away from Athens. The man ran to Athens as fast as his legs could carry him. He passed on the message, before collapsing with exhaustion and
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to the ground, dead.
A men´s marathon of around forty kilometres was included in the first modern Olympic Games, which was
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in 1896 in Athens, Greece, although a women´s marathon event was not officially included in the programme until the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. The marathon continues to be a very popular sport and over
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marathons take place every year,
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. Half marathons of around twenty-two kilometres are also very popular, as are mini-marathons (sometimes known as
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) which typically cover a much shorter distance.