Today was the 126th running of the Boston Marathon. When and why did people start running Marathons anyway?
According to the legend throughout history, a messenger in Greece had to run roughly 25-miles from a town named Marathon to Athens to announce a Greek military victory.
Once he arrived and gave the message he immediately dropped dead. As a tribute to him, the Marathon became a part of the modern Olympic Games in 1896. The changed the distance to the current 26.2 miles after the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Which it has been every since.
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