Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.21875 miles, or 26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.

History

Origin

The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought), which took place in August or September, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν (nenikekamen, "we have wοn"), before collapsing and dying. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles.Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) also gives the story, but names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides).

Marathon (Rush song)

"Marathon" is the 4th track on Canadian rock band Rush's 1985 album Power Windows. It was released as a single 4 years later in 1989 and reached #6 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

It is written by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Geddy Lee, and its lyrics are written by drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The lyrics depict how one would feel while running in an actual marathon, but the meaning of the song is meant to use a marathon (an extreme challenge) as a metaphor for life, and say that life is full of obstacles and is all about achieving one's personal goals.

In an 1986 interview, Peart said "(Marathon) is about the triumph of time and a kind of message to myself (because I think life is too short for all the things that I want to do), there's a self-admonition saying that life is long enough. You can do a lot -- just don't burn yourself out too fast trying to do everything at once. Marathon is a song about individual goals and trying to achieve them. And it's also about the old Chinese proverb: 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

Law & Order (season 10)

The 10th season of Law & Order premiered on NBC, September 22, 1999 and ended May 24, 2000.

Cast

Ed Green (played by Jesse L. Martin) replaced season 9's Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) in the role of junior detective.

Main cast

Recurring cast

Episodes

Notes and references