Officially a running race of 26.2 miles or around 42 meters, but often used to refer to a race over large distances.

The fastest record time has steadily decreased since the marathon was first introduced into the modern Olympics in 1908. The original fastest time was 2:55:18.4, and as of 2003 the record time was 2:05:00.

In the year 490 BC, the Greek soldier name Philippides ran until his death from the battleground at Marathon to the city of Athens after the Greek victory over the Persians.