The Origin of Marathons谁发明了马拉松
Talking about the origins of the marathon （a race of 42.195 km long run）， you may hear about how Pheidippides， an ancient Greek courier， ran 26 miles （about 42 km） from the town of Marathon to Athens to inform the Greek victory， and then died there. The Greeks started a “marathon” to the ancient Olympic Games in memory of it.
Then how did the modern marathon get its distance？ Runners can thank a Frenchman， Michel Bréal for both. In the 1890s， Bréal took part in starting congress of the International Olympic Committee （IOC）. It suggested international competitions inspired by the ancient games. Greece had been hosting its own revived Olympics for years， but the IOC wanted to make the competition between nations.
Bréal suggested that one of the events be a footrace from Marathon to Pnyx， which had a distance of 40 kilometers， or 24.85 miles. The organizers loved the idea， and at the 1896 Summer Games in Athens， Greek runner Spyridon Louis won the race.
说到马拉松（一场42.195千米长的赛跑）的起源，你可能会听说古希腊信使斐迪庇第斯为了宣告希腊胜利的消息，是如何从马拉松镇跑26英里（约42千米）到雅典，然后在那里去世的。为了纪念这件事，在古代奥运会上，希腊人开始举办“马拉松”比赛。
那么近代马拉松和赛程是怎么来的呢？为此，运动员们可以感谢法国人米歇尔·布莱尔。19世纪90年代，布莱尔参加了国际奥委会（IOC）的成立大会，提出了受古代奥林匹克运动会启发的国际比赛。多年来，希腊一直在举办自己国家的复兴奥运会，但国际奥委会希望将其打造成国际赛事。
布莱尔建议其中一个项目为从马拉松到普尼克斯的赛跑，全程40千米，即24.85英里。组织者很喜欢这个想法，在1896年雅典夏季奥运会上，希腊选手史比利廷·路易斯赢得了这场比赛。
In 1908， the 4th Olympic Games were held in London， and for the convenience of the British royal family to watch the marathon， the starting point was set under the balcony of Windsor Palace， and the finish line was set inside the Olympic Stadium， with the distance from the start to the finish line being 26.2 miles， which is 42.195 kilometers. Later the International Association of Athletics Federations （IAAF） regarded this distance as the standard distance for marathon running.
Since then， marathons have only grown more popular. In 1984， the 23rd Olympic Games included the women’s marathon for the first time. On January 1， 2004， the IAAF announced that the marathon had begun to hold a world record， and in 2008， the marathon became an official Olympic event for the first time at the Beijing Olympics.
1908年，第4届奥运会在伦敦举行，为方便英国王室人员观看马拉松比赛，起点被设在温莎城堡的阳台下，终点设在奥林匹克运动场内，起点到终点的距离为26.2英里，即42.195千米。国际田径联合会（IAAF）后来将该距离确定为马拉松赛跑的标准距离。
从那时起，马拉松比赛变得越来越受欢迎。1984年，第23届奥运会首次将女子马拉松列入比赛项目。2004年1月1日，国际田径联合会宣布马拉松开始拥有世界纪录。2008年北京奥运会，马拉松比赛首次成为奥运会的正式比赛项目。
Word Bank
suggest v. 建议；提议
royal adj. 皇家的；王室的
announce v. 宣布，宣告（决定、计划等）