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• marathon
  marathon

  noun

  a footrace or wheelchair race over a course measuring 26 miles 385 yards (42 kilometers 195 meters).
• Marathon
  Marathon

  noun

  a plain in SE Greece, in Attica: the Athenians defeated the Persians here 490 b.c.

marathon

¹ American  

[mar-uh-thon, -thuhn] / ˈmær əˌθɒn, -θən /

noun

• marathons
  plural

1. a footrace or wheelchair race over a course measuring 26 miles 385 yards (42 kilometers 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.

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Marathon ² American  

[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.

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marathon ¹ British  

/ 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

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Marathon ² British  

/ ˈmærəθən /

noun

1. a plain in Attica northeast of Athens: site of a victory of the Athenians and Plataeans over the Persians (490 _bc )

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Usage

What does marathon mean? A marathon is a 26. 22-mile (42. 2-kilometer) long-distance race. Technically, the exact length of a marathon is 26 miles 385 yards (42 kilometers 195 meters). But the length is mostly commonly stated as 26. 2 miles. Marathons are most commonly running races, but some people complete marathons in wheelchairs. Marathon courses are typically on roadways, often those in or around a city. The marathon is an event in the Summer Olympic Games. Major marathons are also held internationally in many major cities. Prominent events include the Boston Marathon, the New York Marathon, and the London Marathon. A marathon runner can be called a marathoner. A running race of 13. 1 miles is known as a half-marathon. The term ultramarathon refers to a race of 50 miles or more. The word marathon is also often used in a more general way to refer to a contest or event that takes a particularly long time and requires endurance, such as a dance marathon. A movie marathon involves several movies played consecutively. Sometimes, the word is used in a more figurative way to refer to a task or undertaking that takes a long time and requires patience, as in Be patient—learning karate is a marathon, not a sprint. Example: I’ve always wanted to run a marathon, so I started training today.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• marathons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of marathon

First recorded in 1895–1900; allusion to Pheidippides' 26-mile (42-kilometer) run from Marathon to Athens to carry news of the Greek victory over the Persians in 490 b.c.

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Explanation

A marathon is a very long race that runners compete in — a 26 mile, 385 yard race, to be exact. When you're training for a marathon, you'll gradually increase the distance of your daily runs. The word marathon has ancient legendary roots: it comes from a long journey taken on foot by the Greek messenger Pheidippides, from the battlefields of Marathon to Athens in 490 BCE. As the story goes, he ran without stopping, announced to the citizens of Athens, "We have won," and promptly died. The marathon was one of the original Olympics events, and its difficulty inspired the figurative meaning of "any difficult undertaking."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

marathon Marathon marathons

Tanden has finished up her marathon day with an appearance on CNN; she sparred with Scott Jennings about Donald Trump’s flagging poll numbers.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Melbourne Marathon was the third leg on Kipchoge's world tour, on which he hopes to complete a marathon on all seven continents, including Antarctica, over two years.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Kipchoge is considered one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time, winning two Olympic marathon golds, plus a silver and bronze over 5000m.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

That’s 4:48 a mile for 26.2 miles—the fastest debut marathon ever recorded by an American.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

She’s training for her second marathon in November, doing extra-long runs on the weekends, and she’s attempting to be open to all new experiences.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Spaggiari, who is not part of the pope’s medical team, also said one of his patients ran the New York Marathon after having a lung removed.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

No longer an unknown, the treadmill phenom is eyeing a bigger prize when he laces up for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

For those running the 2XU Long Beach Marathon Sunday morning, Kittell said he expects a 40% to 50% chance of rain during the day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

A game of rock, paper, scissors was used to determine when the elite female and male races will take place during next year's unique two-day London Marathon.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

I carefully studied every inch of the Disney Marathon Fundraiser to Beat Diabetes website.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

"You don't need to run marathons," Corral said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Helen described her late-husband as a calm, level-headed and "very active guy" who used to run marathons, even "before it was popular".

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Long before Dante joined the military and Joey started running marathons, Thousand Steps Beach was always where they got their best workouts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Tang enjoyed testing his endurance by running marathons and participating in triathlons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

They sprinted one day and rowed long, punishing ten- or twelve-mile marathons the next.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

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