Forbes January 17, 2025
Venkat Viswanathan is Founder and Chairman of LatentView Analytics, a marketing analytics and decision science company.
Every year, roughly 1.1 million people complete a marathon—26.2 miles of uninterrupted running. Those finishers represent 0.01% of the world’s population.
The history of the marathon dates back to the Greco-Persian Wars in 490 BCE. Legend says that Pheidippides, a Greek messenger, ran 40 kilometers or approximately 25 miles from the plains of Marathon to Athens to announce the Athenians’ victory over the Persians—a battle where the Athenians were significantly outnumbered.
Pheidippides collapsed and died of exhaustion after proudly shouting, “We have won!” The marathon as a modern sporting event, inspired by the Pheidippides legend, was introduced at the first modern Olympic Games in...
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