Berlin Marathon, from Wikipedia

Do you know that a Marathon is 26.2 miles long?

Yes, I know that too.

BUT– Do you know

WHY a Marathon is

26.2 miles long??

Anyone? Anyone?

… We’re driving to dinner the other night and I see one of those oval stickers on the back of an SUV that says- ‘26.2’.  And it got me thinking about marathons, so I ask my husband,

“Why are marathons 26.2 miles long?  Why aren’t they 25 miles long, or just 26 miles long?”  He thought about it for a minute and said,

“I think 26.2 miles is the distance from Marathon to Athens.  I think a runner ran from the battle of Marathon all the way to Athens to tell people they won.”

I looked at my husband, he looked at me, our 6-year-old looked at us, we all looked at each other… with approval… and I replied,

“Well, if that’s NOT why marathons are 26.2 miles, that sounds like a REALLY GOOD ANSWER… I’d totally believe that.”

By this time, we’re all laughing and are set to Google it when we get home-

AND SURE ENOUGH- My Guy is right!

SO– marathons are 26.2 miles because that is the distance a soldier ran from the battle of Marathon to Athens, to tell of their victory…

Just another day here educating myself… and the world,

Talk amongst yourselves…