Marathons
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Not a rather delicious chocolate covered caramel, nougat and peanut based snack, now known as a Snickers bar, but rather a running event of 26.2 miles.
The history of the marathon is perhaps a little vague, but is one of those Greek history things, so likely to be pretty apocryphal. It is said that in 490BC, a soldier called Pheidippides ran approximatley 24 miles from a battle field at Marathon to Athens to tell the people of the city that they had beaten the Persians. Pheidippides, however, gave his message and promptly died.
The modern incarnation of the race was formed as an Olympic event when the modern games were first run in 1896 and was won by a Greek called Spiridon Loues.
Today, marathons are run all over the world, literally, by millions of people. There is even a race called the Marathon de Sables, or Marathon of the Sands, where competitors run for several days across the Sahara Desert. It's not really a marathon, being run over several days across various distances, some further than the 26.2 miles, but never the less it still qualifies as a real test of endurance.
Some of the most famous marathons are the London, New York and Boston Marathons, although these are not the only, toughest or best.
The reasons for running a marathon are as varied as those who attempt it, ranging from proving to themselves that they can do it and raising money for worthy charities to getting stuck on the course on race day and being swept along with the other runners.
One of the parts of a marathon most hated by runners is "the wall". This is a point in the race, normally around 20 miles, where the body realises just what the heck is going on and how stupid it is running this distance for no good reason, has a go at stopping. This is where the marathon runners training is vital and they gamely force themselves to leave common sense at home and continue, despite the obvious benefits of stopping (absence of pain etc).
A Marathon are also part of a supremely hard race called the Ironman. This event is a http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A249301 Triathalon, involving swimming several miles, cycling for another 100 miles or so and then, just to add to the fun, run a marathon. You can't call these guys couch potatoes.
The history of the marathon is perhaps a little vague, but is one of those Greek history things, so likely to be pretty apocryphal. It is said that in 490BC, a soldier called Pheidippides ran approximatley 24 miles from a battle field at Marathon to Athens to tell the people of the city that they had beaten the Persians. Pheidippides, however, gave his message and promptly died.
The modern incarnation of the race was formed as an Olympic event when the modern games were first run in 1896 and was won by a Greek called Spiridon Loues.
Today, marathons are run all over the world, literally, by millions of people. There is even a race called the Marathon de Sables, or Marathon of the Sands, where competitors run for several days across the Sahara Desert. It's not really a marathon, being run over several days across various distances, some further than the 26.2 miles, but never the less it still qualifies as a real test of endurance.
Some of the most famous marathons are the London, New York and Boston Marathons, although these are not the only, toughest or best.
The reasons for running a marathon are as varied as those who attempt it, ranging from proving to themselves that they can do it and raising money for worthy charities to getting stuck on the course on race day and being swept along with the other runners.
One of the parts of a marathon most hated by runners is "the wall". This is a point in the race, normally around 20 miles, where the body realises just what the heck is going on and how stupid it is running this distance for no good reason, has a go at stopping. This is where the marathon runners training is vital and they gamely force themselves to leave common sense at home and continue, despite the obvious benefits of stopping (absence of pain etc).
A Marathon are also part of a supremely hard race called the Ironman. This event is a http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A249301 Triathalon, involving swimming several miles, cycling for another 100 miles or so and then, just to add to the fun, run a marathon. You can't call these guys couch potatoes.
