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Marathon in India

The most challenging discipline in athletics, Marathon defines the person you are, the person you want to be, and the person you become. It’s an extraordinary race and an awesome accomplishment for anyone who completes it. It’s a veritable test of endurance, long and severe, and thus truly a conquest of body and mind.

Today Marathon running has emerged as a major hobby and many people run and participate in the many races that are organised across the globe. It is not just a race against time and distance but represents the conquest of will over adversity.


History of Marathon
The Marathon is a road race that starts and finishes in the stadium and takes its name from Marathon in Ancient Greece; the race is inspired by the feat of a Greek runner Pheidippides and commemorates his run from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens in 490BC. Legend has it that Pheidippides, bringing news of Greek victory over the Persians, dropped dead from exhaustion after delivering the momentous message “Nike” (victory).

The story of this epic feat was revived with the first modern Olympics in 1896, when the first Marathon was run (over 40km). In 1894 an international revival of the Olympics was being discussed; French linguist and historian Michel Breal suggested the inclusion of a long-distance race of 40km (24.8 miles), and citing the legend of Pheidippides, Breal and Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, presented the idea to the Organising Committee of the Athens Olympics. The Greeks immediately agreed to it and got cracking.

The legend of Pheidippides was honoured by a 24.85 mile (40km) run from Marathon Bridge to Olympic stadium in Athens: Athens Stadium, the finish line for the Athens Marathon, stands on the site of a stadium used in classical times. Seventeen runners took part and the winner was a 24-year-old Greek postal worker Spiridon Louis, who served in the army. Interestingly, he won despite stopping on the way at the village of Chalandri, for a glass of red wine!


The present distance of 42.195km (26 miles 385 yards) was first run in 1908, being the length of the race in the London Olympics, run from Windsor Castle to the White City Stadium. But it was not until 1924 that it became the established distance.

DISTANCE RUNNING –Options*

Marathon 42.195km (26miles 385yards)
Half Marathon 21.0975km
10 K 10,000 metres
5 K 5,000 metres
1 K 1,000 metres

Ultra Marathon distance variable, depending upon terrain & weather conditions

*All races are open for physically challenged participants as we feel a physical handicap does not stand in the way of an indomitable spirit; nevertheless we do suggest shorter courses for the contestants, on the basis of our experience

**This race is exclusively for senior citizens