The marathon is a long-distance race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres, 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, who reported the victory. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions.
Stephen Henry Jones MBE is a Welsh athlete and set the former world record in the marathon, in his first completed race at that distance at the Chicago Marathon in 1984 with 2:08:05.
Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. Her other marathon victories included winning the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.
Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometres and previously held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome.
Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He won the first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot and the second gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He is the first sub-Saharan African Olympic gold medallist. At Tokyo in 1964, Abebe became the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. He was a member of the Ethiopian Imperial Guard, an elite infantry division that safeguarded the Emperor of Ethiopia. Enlisting as a soldier before his athletic career, he rose to the rank of shambel (captain). In Ethiopia, Abebe is formally known as Shambel Abebe Bikila.
Gelindo Bordin is an Italian former athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is the first Italian to have won an Olympic gold in the marathon and the only male to win both the Boston Marathon and the Olympic gold medal in this event.
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima is a former long-distance runner who specialised in marathons. While leading the marathon after 35 km at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was attacked by a former Irish priest Cornelius "Neil" Horan. Following the incident he fell back from first to third place, winning the bronze medal. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship for that race. Horan was defrocked by the Catholic Church the following year in January 2005.
Peter Fonseca is a Portuguese-born Canadian politician and former athlete. He is a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville since his election in 2015.
Édouard Fabre was a Canadian marathon runner.
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru was a Kenyan long distance runner. He set the current 10,000m World Junior Record in 2005 and set the half marathon world record 3 times.
Rodney Phillip "Rod" Dixon is a former New Zealand middle- to long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and in 1983 won the New York City Marathon.
Gérard Côté, was a Canadian marathon runner and a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.
Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minutes when he set a world record of 2:14:28. Edelen also won the 1964 U.S. Olympic marathon trials and represented the U.S. in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Bruna Genovese is an Italian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon race.
Marílson Gomes dos Santos is a Brazilian long-distance runner. He won the 2006 and 2008 New York City Marathon, becoming the first South American to win the race. He was selected as the best male performer at the 2009 Brazilian national championships after breaking the meet records in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres races. He is the current South American record holder in both these events with times of 13:19.43 and 27:28.12, respectively.
Abdihakem "Abdi" Abdirahman is an American long-distance runner. He is a five-time Olympian competing for the United States in the 10,000 meters and the marathon.
Adriana Fernández Miranda is a long-distance runner from México.
Franca Fiacconi is a marathon runner from Italy.
Mbarak Kipkorir Hussein is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in long distance running, including the marathon. Having been a resident of Albuquerque since 1987, he obtained United States citizenship in 2004 and began representing the US internationally in 2007.
Tanzania competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Seven athletes, five men and two women, competed in five events across three sports, but did not win any medals. Hilal Hemed Hilal, however, set a new national record in the men's 50 m freestyle event. Four athletes took part in track and field athletics, all in marathons, while two participated in the swimming tournament's 50 m freestyle category. The flagbearer for the opening ceremony was Andrew Thomas Mlugu, who was Tanzania's first Olympic judoka. His counterpart in the closing ceremony was Alphonce Felix Simbu, who had earned the nation's best finish at the Games by placing fifth in the men's marathon. Prior to these Games, Tanzania had sent athletes to twelve editions of the Summer Olympics.
