You have all heard about marathon races, in which the participants run across very long distances. This game was first held to honour the 
memory of an ancient Greek soldier, who made a heroic long distance run just to communicate a message. It happened in BC 490. In that year Greece fought with Persia at the town of Marathon. The mighty Persians were miraculously defeated by the comparatively weak Greek army. A Greek soldier named Pheidippides was sent from Marathon to Athens (capital of Greece) to announce the victory. It is said that he ran the entire distance of 40 km without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city he collapsed dead, from exhaustion.
