a footrace or wheelchair race over a course measuring 26 miles 385 yards (42 kilometers 195 meters).
any long-distance race.
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.
a plain in SE Greece, in Attica: the Athenians defeated the Persians here 490 b.c.
an ancient village that is near this plain.
Classical Mythology. a son of Epopeus and the father of Corinthus.
a race on foot of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 kilometres): an event in the modern Olympics
any long or arduous task, assignment, etc
( as modifier )
a marathon effort
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.
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.
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Perseverance covered the marathon distance after five years and four months of driving, reaching the mark on the 1,890th Martian day, or sol, of its mission.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
The 24-year-old's durability in marathon encounters has long been a concern, with Sinner having lost eight of his previous nine matches that went the distance.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Following a marathon procession through the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in neighbouring Iraq on Wednesday, he was to reach his final place of rest in the holy city of Mashhad.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
His wife, Jeanene Bergstrom, who works 50 to 70 hours a week in the business, said he didn’t ask her before deciding to do the marathon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
A thirty-three-year-old Australian with carrot-colored hair and the lean build of a marathon runner, Groom was a Brisbane plumber who worked as a guide only occasionally.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
“I think Marathon — just as a brand, as a concept — was created by Hussle and it was just the long haul for any lifestyle,” his brother Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom told The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
It makes a fitness influencer fail to see why running the NYC Marathon accompanied by a camera crew on e-bikes might be a problem for other runners.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
Numerous events have also been cancelled in Germany, including Saturday's Hamburg Half Marathon.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
By late morning, Valero was down 6%, Marathon Petroleum had fallen nearly 5%, while Phillips 66 was down 4%.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
And the army never learned to bunch its troops into tight formations, as the Greeks did at Marathon, forming human masses that can literally stand up to cavalry.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
My 40-something friends are training for marathons, opening new businesses, dating, having babies and changing careers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
They can mix cocktails, run marathons and fold laundry.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
He also explores yuppies’ attraction to marathons, nouvelle cuisine and Gary Hart, who ran a pair of lawyer-driven, technocratic campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Mac has "the greatest memories" from his marathons, with his personal best of two hours and 44 minutes achieved in 1983.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
We had spelling bees and math marathons, or we stood up and said what we were going to do that summer, or what we would do if we were king of the world.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
