The Origin of Marathons谁发明了马拉松

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Talking about the origins of the marathon （a race of 42.195 km long run）， you may hear about how Pheidippides， an ancient Greek courier， ran 26 miles （about 42 km） from the town of Marathon to Athens to inform the Greek victory， and then died there. The Greeks started a “marathon” to the ancient Olympic Games in memory of it.

Then how did the modern marathon get its distance？ Runners can thank a Frenchman， Michel Bréal for both. In the 1890s， Bréal took part in starting congress of the International Olympic Committee （IOC）. It suggested international competitions inspired by the ancient games. Greece had been hosting its own revived Olympics for years， but the IOC wanted to make the competition between nations.

Bréal suggested that one of the events be a footrace from Marathon to Pnyx， which had a distance of 40 kilometers， or 24.85 miles. The organizers loved the idea， and at the 1896 Summer Games in Athens， Greek runner Spyridon Louis won the race.

说到马拉松（一场42.195千米长的赛跑）的起源，你可能会听说古希腊信使斐迪庇第斯为了宣告希腊胜利的消息，是如何从马拉松镇跑26英里（约42千米）到雅典，然后在那里去世的。（剩余1387字）