Ollie Latus looks at the marathon through history.

Today the definition of a marathon is a running event which covers a distance of 26 miles and 385 yards, but the story goes back thousands of years.

The first “marathon”, so the story goes, was run in 490BC by the Greek messenger Pheidippides who ran from the Battle Of Marathon all the way to Athens to announce victory.

It is said he ran the whole way without stopping, bursting into the assembly in Athens and announcing “We won!” before collapsing and dying.

Although the term “marathon” comes from Ancient Greek legend, it was not one of their Olympic events.

It was included in the first modern day Olympic Games though, in 1896, although the distance was not standardised until 1921.

The winner of the first Olympic Marathon was a Greek water carrier called Spyridon “Spyros” Louis, who finished in 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

It has become tradition for the men’s marathon to be the last event of each Olympic Games, sometimes even incorporated into the closing ceremony.

The women’s event was added in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. There are estimated to be more than 500 marathon events held throughout the world each year, and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races has more than 300 member events in 83 countries.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest, and has been held every year since 1897 after being inspired by the first Olympic marathon. Using temporary courses and measured by GPS, there have even been marathons held in the Arctic, Antarctica and in other deserts.

The fastest ever recorded marathon time recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations was achieved by Patrick Makau from Kenya, who completed the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 38 seconds on September 25, 2011.

Paula Radcliffe holds the women’s record after running the London Marathon in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds in 2003.