By Admin 
You must have heard about marathon race. In this, many participants run together and cover a long distance and reach a final point.
In such a situation, have you ever wondered why this race was named Marathon and why its distance is so odd? Actually, there is a very interesting story behind it, which you too will be surprised to hear. In such a situation, let us know about it.
What is the story of marathon?
There is an interesting story behind Marathon getting its name. Marathon started before the year 490 AD. There was a coastal plain named Marathon in Greece, where a battle took place between Greek and Persian soldiers. During this time, the small Greek army had badly defeated the Persians. In such a situation, a soldier named Phidipides of the Greek Army was sent to Greece to give this good news. The total distance from Marathon to Athens was 40 km, which Pheidippides covered by running. During this time Pheidippides also removed his armor and earrings. But by the time he reached there he was extremely tired and drenched in blood and upon reaching there he uttered only one word – Nainikikaman which in Greek meant we have won. Pheidippides died soon after giving the news of this victory. Later this story became the inspiration for the modern marathon.
Why is the marathon only 42.195 km long?
Although there is no real proof of this story, when the modern Olympics were started in the year 1896, a French scholar Michel Briel gave an idea that there should be a race in the Olympics which would pay tribute to this story. Then Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics, liked this idea very much and he adopted it, after which the first Olympic marathon took place in Athens. At that time, inspired by the story of marathon, the total distance of this sport was kept at 40 km. But even after this this distance was not fixed. Sometimes it was increased to 38 and sometimes to something else. It depended on what the roads and space were like at different places. Then came the London Olympics in 1908. In this, the organizers wanted to make this race special for the Royal Family. Therefore it was decided that the race would start at Windsor Castle and end at White City Stadium. Therefore, the distance was increased from 40 to 42.195 km so that the finish line of this race would end in front of the exact Royal Family.
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