Marathon
Marathon (sport), running event, traditionally the longest race (42 km, 195 m26 mi, 385 yd) included in track and field competitions. It is the final track and field event held in the Summer Olympic Games Marathons have become increasingly popular, and well-known marathons such as those held annually in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City attract thousands of runners and spectators.
The marathon's distance was chosen to duplicate the distance run by a reek soldier from the town of Marathon to Athens in 490 be to bring the news of a Greek victory over the Persians. The Marathon-Athens distance is actually less than 40 km (25 mi). The modern distance was established at the 1908 Olympic Games in London and represents the distance from the royal castle at Windsor to the Olympic stadium.
From the revival of the Olympics
in 1896 until 1984 only men ran the marathon at the Olympics. There are no
men's and women's records for the event because each marathon course is
different. The best men's times are under 2 hours and 7 minutes. The best
women's times are slightly above 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Well-known marathoners include
Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, who won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, East
Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski, who took the Olympic gold medal in 1976 and
1980, and Kenya's Ibrahim Hussein, who won the New York City Marathon in 1987
and the Boston Marathon in 1988, 1991, and 1992. American Frank Shorter
dramatically increased the popularity of the event in the United States when he
won the marathon at the 1972 Olympics.
Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar
were other prominent American marathoners in the 1970s and 1980s. The
performances of Norway's urete Waitz, particularly in the New York City
Marathon, helped boost the event's popularity among women beginning in the
early 1980s. Other well-known female marathoners include American Joan Benoit
Samuelson and Portuguese Rosa Mota.