marathon

[mar-uh-thon, -thuh n] /ˈmær əˌθɒn, -θən/
noun
1.
a foot race over a course measuring 26 mi. 385 yards (42 km 195 meters).
2.
any long-distance race.
3.
any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration or requiring exceptional endurance:
a dance marathon; a sales marathon.
Origin
1895-1900; allusion to Pheidippides' 26-mi. (42-km) run from Marathon to Athens to carry news of the Greek victory over the Persians in 490 b.c.

Marathon

[mar-uh-thon] /ˈmær əˌθɒn/
noun
1.
a plain in SE Greece, in Attica: the Athenians defeated the Persians here 490 b.c.
2.
an ancient village that is near this plain.
3.
Classical Mythology. a son of Epopeus and the father of Corinthus.
Examples from the web for marathon
  • His idea: a marathon race that would allow the cars to run full out for a long period of time.
  • Regardless of who wins this sprint, the next race--to make sense of the genome--will be a marathon with many runners.
  • It is a case of two brave old marathon dancers, each holding the other up, with long days and nights of shuffling still to go.
  • Completing a marathon is a worthy item for the bucket list.
  • It is a marathon with many runners falling by the way side.
  • One of the more special moments in the marathon of launch events is crew walkout.
  • Running a marathon as a training run is a true milestone.
  • To burn the calories in a large fast-food meal can require the equivalent of running a marathon.
  • Fantastic optics are what you want for a shooting marathon.
  • She's training for a half marathon and hoping to do a full marathon by the end of the year.
British Dictionary definitions for marathon

marathon

/ˈmærəθən/
noun
1.
a race on foot of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 kilometres): an event in the modern Olympics
2.
  1. any long or arduous task, assignment, etc
  2. (as modifier): a marathon effort
Word Origin
referring to the feat of the messenger who ran more than 20 miles from Marathon to Athens to bring the news of victory in 490 bc

Marathon

/ˈmærəθən/
noun
1.
a plain in Attica northeast of Athens: site of a victory of the Athenians and Plataeans over the Persians (490 bc)
Word Origin and History for marathon
n.

1896, marathon race, from story of Greek hero Pheidippides, who in 490 B.C.E. ran the 26 miles and 385 yards to Athens from the Plains of Marathon to tell of the allied Greek victory there over Persian army. The original story (Herodotus) is that he ran from Athens to Sparta to seek aid, which arrived too late to participate in the battle. Introduced as an athletic event in the 1896 revival of the Olympic Games, based on a later, less likely story, and quickly extended to mean "any very long event or activity." Related: Marathoner (by 1912).