Today is the Boston marathon.
see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Košice_Peace_Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km).
The name, “marathon”, comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
The world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 4 minutes and 55 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by Paul Tergat of Kenya on September 28, 2003.
The world record for women was set by Paula Radcliffe of United Kingdom in the London Marathon on 13 April 2003, in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds.
The Boston Marathon began in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon.
The Košice Peace Marathon is the oldest marathon in Europe and the second oldest in the world, beginning in 1924. The course is flat and comprises of two laps through the city center of Košice, Slovakia.
The first cash prize for winning the Boston marathon was awarded in 1986.
Women were not allowed to enter the Boston Marathon officially until 1972.
Heartbreak Hill, a well-known difficult stretch near the end of the race (between 20 and 21 miles) rises only 80 vertical feet.
Recent Winners:
† = Course Record
Men
2007 Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Kenya 2:14:13 (3rd win)
2006 Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Kenya 2:07:14 (2nd) †
2005 Hailu Negussie Ethiopia 2:11:44
2004 Timothy Cherigat Kenya 2:10:37
2003 Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot Kenya 2:10:11
2002 Rodgers Rop Kenya 2:09:02
2001 Lee Bong-Ju Republic of Korea 2:09:43
2000 Elijah Lagat Kenya 2:09:47
Women
2007 Lidiya Grigoryeva Russia 2:29:18
2006 Rita Jeptoo Kenya 2:23:38
2005 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 2:25:12 (4th)
2004 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 2:24:27 (3rd)
2003 Svetlana Zakharova Russia 2:25:19
2002 Margaret Okayo Kenya 2:20:43 †
2001 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 2:23:53 (2nd)
2000 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 2:26:11