Marathon
马拉松

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (26 miles and 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.
马拉松是一项陆地长跑运动, 规定赛道长度是42公里195米(26英里385码)。该项运动的发起是为了纪念传说中一位名叫费迪皮迪兹的希腊士兵，他为报信从马拉松战场一路跑回雅典。

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of a marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as by the Greeks. More than five hundred 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. Some of these belong to the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) which has grown since its foundation in 1982 to embrace over three hundred member events in eighty-three countries and territories.
马拉松是1896第一届现代奥林匹克运动会的赛事之一，不过它的赛道长短直到1921年才得以统一。1896年，现代奥林匹克运动会的发起者和组织者试图通过一项大众化的运动来回顾古希腊的辉煌。在1896年第一届雅典现代奥林匹克运动会中设立马拉松比赛的想法，来自法国历史学家米歇尔·布莱尔，这个想法得到了现代奥林匹克创始人顾拜旦以及希腊人民的大力支持。现在每年世界各地有500多场马拉松比赛，规模大一点的比赛会有数以万计的参赛者，其中绝大部分以娱乐休闲为目的。这其中的一些马拉松比赛隶属于国际马拉松与长跑比赛协会(简称为AIMS)，该组织创建于1982年，到目前为止已经包括了83个国家和地区的300多个赛事成员。