Published at LXer:
In 490 BC the Greek army defeated the first Persian invasion at the battle of Marathon. Legend says that the courier Pheidippides was dispatched to deliver the news of the victory to Athens, and did so by running 40 km (26 miles), exclaiming upon arrival: "We have won!", to then collapse and die. The legend also says that the same Pheidippides had just run 240 km in two days, to request reinforces from Sparta.
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