The story
Olympia Marathon in Ancient Olympia
A November marathon in Western Greece tracing the ancient Sacred Road between the city-state of Elis and the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, honoring both the ancient Olympic ideal and the 1896 first modern marathon winner Spyridon Louis, offering the standard 42.195-kilometer distance alongside shorter complementary races.
The marathon distance itself takes its name and inspiration from the Athenian army's run back to Athens after the battle against the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC, formalized as an Olympic event in 1896 and standardized at 26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 kilometers, at the 1908 London Games, but the marathon was never actually part of the ancient Olympic Games held at Olympia itself.