Other forms: marathons
A marathon is the long street race of 42.195 kilometres, about 26.2 miles. Run a marathon, the London Marathon, marathon training.
The odd distance was fixed at the 1908 London Olympics so the race could finish in front of the royal box, and it has been kept ever since. Half marathon and ultramarathon are the neighbours. Figuratively, a marathon is anything long and exhausting: a marathon meeting, a marathon session. Note the phrase it is a marathon, not a sprint, which is advice about pacing anything at all.
1nounmarathonA long street race of about 42 kilometres.
“He ran his first marathon at fifty-three.”
2nounanythingAnything very long and exhausting.
“It turned into a marathon of a meeting.”
marathon is a long race or effort.
Marathon was the plain in Greece where the Athenians beat a Persian army in 490 BC. The legend of a runner carrying the news to Athens and dying on arrival inspired the modern race, and it is legend rather than history.
Ancient Greek
Μαραθών
French
marathon
English, today
marathon
Built from
From marathon. From French marathon, coined in 1894 by linguist Michel Bréal for the first modern time Olympic Games after Ancient Greek Μαραθών, a town northeast of Athens. Phidippides the Greek ran the distance from Marathon to Athens to deliver a message regarding the Battle of Marathon. The modern sport of marathon running is based on a run approximately the same distance. The toponym itself comes from μάραθον (“fennel”) and refers to the prevalence of the plant in the area.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sports & Fitness, Sports & Games Played