History of the marathon
The legend
The marathons as we know them today were inspired by the story of a Greek messenger, Pheidippides. The story says he ran from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to tell the people that the Greeks had won over the Persians. The legend says he ran 42 kilometers and then fell on the ground and died from exhaustion.
First modern marathon
The very first marathon took place in 1896 in Athens. The organizers wanted to create a long-distance race during the Olympic Games to honor the legend of Pheidippides. They chose the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens, which is 40km.
The marathon as we know it today
Only one percent of the population runs a marathon in their life. The race is exactly 42.195 km or 26 miles and 385 yards long. As mentioned before, the original distance was 40km but it was changed during the 1908 London Olympics because the British royal family requested the race to go from the lawn of Windsor Castle to the White City Stadium, which is a distance of 42.195km.