The name ‘marathon’ comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.

It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the Senate, exclaiming “Nenikékamen”, ‘We have won’ or ‘We are victorious’ before collapsing and dying of exhaustion.

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon  – Emil Zatopek, Olympic Legend