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marathon
noun
- a footrace of 26 miles, 385 yards, run over an open course, esp. as an event of the Olympic games or as an annual event in some cities: after the legend of the Greek runner who ran from Marathon to Athens to tell of the victory over the Persians (490 )
- any long-distance or endurance contest
ancient Greek village in E Attica, or a plain nearby, where the Athenians under Miltiades defeated the Persians under Darius I (490 )
See marathon in American Heritage Dictionary 4
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