Mel On...History of the Marathon

From the First Modern Olympic Games:

"Starting in the town of Marathon itself and following the original route laid out in 1896 for the first ever marathon race, the Athens Classic Marathon also follows the route run by the legendary Athenian soldier who, over 2,500 years ago, raced back from the Marathon battlefield, where the Athenian army had just won a great victory over the invading Persians, in order to let the people of Athens know that they were safe. Legend tells of him collapsing into the arms of citizens at the base of the Acropolis and gasping news of the victory before dying from exhaustion. The organizers of the first ever modern Olympic Games, in 1896, decided to build a running event around this legend, and hence our marathon race was born...

And according to sports historians, if we enjoy watching the modern Olympics, then we're lucky it was. Without TV to link up the many events that first Olympic games, which was held at various locations around Athens, had little coherence, and the public didn't warm to it at all. The Greek government went bankrupt during them as well, adding to the general feeling of discontent. There was talk of this new festival of sport being a waste of money, and that there was no enthusiasm to have any more.

But then, on the last day, the marathon event happened. There were only 12 competitors, all well trained athletes from around the world except for the Greek runner Spiros Louis, a last minute entry. Spiros wasn't an experienced runner like the others, just a simple farmer from the local region. But as the race progressed and the other runners dropped out because of the heat and the tough course, Spiros kept on going, chanting the Greek national anthem to himself, pushing harder and harder, until he found himself passing his final rival, an Australian, with 3kms to go. He never gave up the lead after that, and finished in first place (in a time of 2:58) to wild scenes in the great marble Panathenaic Stadium. 70,000 Greeks were cheering him on, the nation was united, 2 members of the Greek royal family even jumped down from their elevated seats and ran with Spiros over the finish line. The next days the newspapers were talking of unity, of how Spiros's great victory had healed a nation. From then on there was no doubt about it, the Olympics was a great event, and they were going to continue, for sure...  

That core value of Unity has remained with the race. Nowadays, a Marathon Flame is lit at the Tomb of the Athenians, on the plain of Marathon where the battle was fought over 2,500 years ago, every year before the Athens Classic Marathon. As well as Unity it symbolizes Fraternity, Peace and Culture, and it's kept at Marathon all year, where organizers from other marathon events worldwide can come and light their own flame from it...."

-- from the folks at Trek and Run who ran this race in 2012

To the 1908 Olympic Games:

The first marathon was 39.9 kilometers (24.8 miles), according to the Boston Athletic Association, but the distance was changed to 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles) at the 1908 London Olympics. It was based not on the distance from Marathon to Athens, but rather the distance from Windsor Castle to London’s Olympic Stadium, the route of the 1908 marathon. (This is why the course loops around the Marathon Tomb, to add the extra distance).

You can read more about it here!