Rebellious Athenians (Greeks) defeat the expansion–minded Persians (of Darius I).
An Athenian herald, Pheidippides, runs from Marathon to Athens (between 21 and 25 miles) to convey the news of the victory to the Athenians. According to legend and the historian Herodotus, the Athenian runner dies from exhaustion upon proclaiming in triumph “We were victorious!” The legend of the “Marathon runner” is born, and will later be enshrined in the Olympics of the Twentieth Century.
Note: At the 1908 Olympics, the marathon route was laid between Windsor Castle (Berkshire County, outside London) and the royal family’s box at the Olympic Stadium in London, a distance of 26.2 miles—slightly longer than the route Pheidippides ran. This 26.2 mile distance was codified in 1921, after the Antwerp (Summer) Olympics.