The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming, ("We wοn"), before collapsing and dying.
There is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend. The Greek historian Herodotus, the main source for the Grecohttps://www.instagram.com/p/CWEapVEIl9H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link-Persian Wars, mentions Pheidippides as the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta asking for help, and then ran back, a distance of over 240 kilometres (150 mi) each way. In some Herodotus manuscripts the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides. Herodotus makes no mention of a messenger sent from Marathon to Athens, and relates that the main part of the Athenian army, having fought and won the grueling battle, and fearing a naval raid by the Persian fleet against an undefended Athens, marched quickly back from the battle to Athens, arriving the same day.