The original Olympic marathon runner ran so far he died of exhaustion
Legend holds that the Greek messenger Pheidippides collapsed and died after sprinting from Marathon to Athens to announce a military victory, inspiring the modern long-distance race we run today.
In 490 BCE, the messenger Pheidippides supposedly ran approximately 25 miles from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens. Upon arrival, he gasped out the word Niki, meaning victory, before falling dead from physical exhaustion.
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