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The Marathon Story, , If someone asks you what a marathon is,, , say that its a long,, , what will your answer be? You might, , difficult race that is run over many kilometres ~ 42.195 to, be exact ~ and you would be right, But why is it called a marathon? Why do we, , © talk about someone making ‘a marathon effort’?, , ~~--, “FF, , Oldest marathon runner, Fauja Singh,, hangs up his sneakers!, At 103 years of age, Fauja Singh of Indian origin, the, world’ oldest marathon runner retired from competitive, events after he finished the Hong Kong Marathon, (10 km category) race on 24 February 2013 in 1, hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds,, , Mr Singh, nicknamed “Turbaned Tornado’, became, the oldest man to run a full marathon at the age of, 100 in Toronto in 2011, He shot to fame when in, 2003, in the same Toronto marathon, he set a record, in the 90-plus age category. He finished the 42.1, Kilometres in S hours, 40 minutes and 1 second., , It all began in Greece about 2500 years, , ago in 490 BCE. A huge army from Persia, sailed across the Aegean Sea to conquer the, powerful city of Athens in Greece. The fleet, landed at Marathon, a small town about 40, kilometres from Athens,, , The Athenians took up a strong position, on the hills surrounding the coast and, Waited to see what would happen. The, 50,000-strong Persian army was about five, times bigger than that of the Athenians!, The Athenians decided to ask the city of, Sparta for help. Sparta had the best army in, , Greece, and Persia was, after all, a common, enemy,, , __At that time, people communicated, , "Foor detae, rtaHed instructions, see inside front cover., , = , , , across cities either by sending a messenger, on horseback, or by using a professional, runner, Legends say that the Athenians, chose one of their best runners,, Pheidippides (fie-dip-ih-dees), to take an, urgent message to Sparta, as the rocky and, , rough terrain was not very suited to horses., , Pheidippides ran the 240 kilometres to, Sparta in just two days, but in vain., Though Sparta wanted to help, they, decided that they could not leave (for, religious reasons) till it was full moon, several days later. So, poor Pheidippides, ran all the way back with the disappointing, news., The Athenians could not afford to wait

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eo meneneeenmnenament, advanced on moved purposelully towards, , pretended to fall back pretended as if they were retreating, dlosed in surrounded them, revived here, given a new life 2 »®, , , , for the Spartans. The Athenian General,, Miltiades (Mill-tie-ah-dees), came up with, a clever plan. He divided his men into, three groups - the centre, the left and the, , right wings., , As per Miltiades’ plan, the armies, advanced on the Persians, and then the, centre wing pretended to fall back, When, the Persian army rushed in after the centre, wing, the left and the right wings closed, in, attacking the Persians from all the sides., , , , , , ‘The Persians were defeated. They quickly, returned to their ships and sailed away., Even the Athenians were a little, surprised by their swift victory. They, jumped up and down on the shore and, cheered, But then they realized that the, , Persians might be going round the coast to, Athens and most of the Athenian army was, , at Marathon!, They needed to get an urgent message, to Athens so that the city would be, , prepared., So, once more, Pheidippides was chosen, , to run the 40 kilometres to Athens, to relay, the news of the victory. He made it, but, was so exhausted (from running to Sparta, and back, battling the Persians, and, then racing to Athens) that, he collapsed after shouting, “Rejoice, we conquer!” and, died., When the modern, Olympic Games were, inaugurated in, sMoretce in 1896,, , Yas. Sire., , from the Marathon, , Bridge to the Olympic, Stadium in Athens. The, race symbolized the, Briagiig together of, Greek heritage and the, spirit of the Olympics., During the initial, , MiG ye, oh ba xs _ the legend of, NS i Pheidippides was —, AN " ) revived through, Hi i) a 40-kilometre run, , , , i

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several modern Olympics, the ‘marathon’ was, always run over approximately 40 kilometres,, in honour of Pheidippides’ last run., , However, before the 1908 Olympic, Games in London, the British royal family, , _ requested that the marathon start at, , Windsor Castle so that the royal children, could witness its start. As a result, the, marathon distance was changed to 26, miles to cover the ground from Windsor, Castle to White City Stadium, with 385, yards added on so the race could finish in, front of the royal family’s viewing box. The, total distance from Windsor Castle to the, Olympic Stadium was 42,195 metres, , '@ Read and Write «, , A. Tick the most appropriate options., 1. This story is about, a. a war between Persia and Athens., b. a clever Athenian General., 2 The war in 490 @cE took place in, a. Sparta., b. Persia., , , , Vartan and ener Nenath thetnres a, Nn ewede, j LOAM COALA AIR, PULA A tty }, ebuwen Uae Wary wth baton,, , - 4%, , (or 26 miles and 385 yards)., Now this distance has become, , the standardized length for the many, marathons run all over the world. Today, it is an Olympic tradition that the Men's, Marathon is the last event of the athletics, calendar, with the grand finish usually, taking place inside the Olympic stadium., And so, Pheidippides’ ‘marathon effort’ lives, on as a symbol of commitment, endurance, and will power., , c. the origin of the marathon., d. a Greek called Pheidippides., , «. Marathon., a Athens., , 3. The Persian army landed at Marathon because it, , @ was Convenient., b had a big army., , c. had sailed across the Aegean Sea., ¢ wanted to conquer Athens., , 4 The athenians did not send a messenger on horseback to Sparta because, , a horses cannot run as fast as humans., , b Pheidippides was faster than any horse., ©, 4, , a horse couldn't have run well on the rocky and rough surface., , a horse can't talk to deliver a message., , Write the answers., How did the Athenians defeat the Persians?, , wn @, , When and why was the first marathon race run?, How was the standard length of the marathon fixed?

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Lesson 7, The Marathon Story, , Question answers, QB. Q1.How did the Athenians defeat the Persians?, , A1.The Athenian General, Miltiades, divided his army into three groups, the left wing, the right wing and the central wing. The central wing, attacked the Persian army from the front and then pretended to fall, back. When the Persian army rushed, in the left and the right wing, closed in attacking the Persians from all the sides and the Persians were, defeated.