Speaking about running a marathon one can’t but mention its history main features. The marathon runner term goes back to the antiquity. According to legend, the Greek warrior named Fidippid ran without stopping from Marathon to Athens to proclaim the victory of the Greeks after the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Nevertheless, this legend is not supported by documentary sources. [sc name="article ad"]As for modernity the International Olympic Committee estimated the actual length of the distance from the battlefield in Marathon to Athens to 34.5 km in 1896.
The first modern Games in 1896 and 2004 Olympic marathon really took place at a distance which ran from Marathon to Athens. The idea of organizing such a race was offered by the French philologist Michel Breal, who wanted to insert this discipline into the program of the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. This idea was supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, as well as by its Greek organizers. The first qualifying marathon held in Greece where Charilaos Vasilakos won for running for 3 hours and 18 minutes.
How to run a marathon today? Every year there held about 800 marathon races. The most massive and prestigious ones are in Boston Marathon, the New York Marathon, Chicago, London and Berlin marathon runs which are a series of World Marathon Majors. These races are held especially for professional marathoners. A number of participants at the start reach 30 thousand or more people. Other famous marathons are also held in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Washington, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Rome and Paris. According to the standards of athletics, the world’s largest marathon races pay high prizes to the winners. For example, the total prize fund of the Boston Marathon in 2008 amounted to $796.000 where the winner was paid $150.000.
The commercial marathon training are virtually open to everyone, all you need is to pass a simple registration procedure. The amateurs consider it prestigious and honorable just to take part in this gorgeous launch together with leading athletes. However, some prestigious marathons have to conduct a lottery among the candidates because they can not accept all comers. Marathon is undoubtedly the most popular disciplines of athletics that is widely distributed throughout the world. Serious school marathon races exist in the U.S., Russia (USSR), Kenya, Ethiopia, Japan and many other European countries. A unique achievement belongs to Emil Zátopek (from Czech Republic), who in 1952 won three gold medals for 5.000 m in the marathon. In this marathon he ran for the first time in his life.
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