The Battle of Marathon, the first direct confrontation between the Persians and the Greeks in 490 BC, was a turning point in the relations between the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek world. Over time, this battle become an epic in defense of Greek freedom. However, less attention, despite the inspirational feature of the battle, has been paid to its narration and the perception of Greek historians and their audiences of it. This article seeks to answer the question of the motif the Greek sources, especially Herodotus, used in the narration of the Battle of Marathon and the subjectivity of their Greek audiences. Research findings show that Herodotus, the most important narrator of the battle, paid less attention to the Marathon than to the Xerxes wars, but by placing it in the field of Persian wars, on the one hand, he has made the Marathon the end point of the Ionian uprising and on the other hand, the introduction of the Xerxes wars, by which he has intended to make his audience believe that the catastrophic wars between the Persians and the Greeks were rooted in the Persians' overthrow of the Ionians, the collaboration of the Ionian tyrants with the Persians, and eventually the Ionian uprising. From Herodotus's point of view, the Marathon was the result of the Ionian uprising, and Salamis was the result of the Battle of Marathon. Thus, the Marathon was a link between the string of Persian and Greek wars.

Purpose: We intended to determine predictor variables of anthropometry and training for Marathon race time in recreational female runners in order to predict Marathon race time for future novice female runners.Methods: Anthropometric characteristics such as body mass, body height, body mass index, circumferences of limbs, thicknesses of skin-folds and body fat as well as training variables such as volume and speed in running training were related to Marathon race time using bi- and multi-variate analysis in 29 female runners.Results: The Marathoners completed the Marathon distance within 251 (26) min, running at a speed of 10.2 (1.1) km/h. Body mass (r=0.37), body mass index (r=0.46), the circumferences of thigh (r=0.51) and calf (r=0.41), the skin-fold thicknesses of front thigh (r=0.38) and of medial calf (r=0.40), the sum of eight skin-folds (r=0.44) and body fat percentage (r=0.41) were related to Marathon race time. For the variables of training, maximal distance ran per week (r=-0.38), number of running training sessions per week (r=-0.46) and the speed of the training sessions (r=-0.60) were related to Marathon race time. In the multi-variate analysis, the circumference of calf (P=0.02) and the speed of the training sessions (P=0.0014) were related to Marathon race time. Marathon race time might be partially (r2=0.50) predicted by the following equation: Race time (min) =184.4+5.0 x (circumference calf, cm) –11.9 x (speed in running during training, km/h) for recreational female Marathoners.Conclusions: Variables of both anthropometry and training were related to Marathon race time in recreational female Marathoners and cannot be reduced to one single predictor variable. For practical applications, a low circumference of calf and a high running speed in training are associated with a fast Marathon race time in recreational female runners.

Previous research has indicated that sex, age and performance level of finishers influence pacing strategies in the Marathon. However, the variation of pacing by country of origin and/or nationality of finishers has not been studied. The aim of this study, therefore, was to examine whether runners with different nationality differ in their pacing strategies. Data (women, n = 117, 595; men, n = 180, 487) from the ‘ New York City Marathon’ between 2006 and 2016 were analysed. A small main effect of nationality on age was shown (P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 032) with Ethiopians being the youngest (30. 2 8. 4 years) and Japanese the oldest (45. 1 10. 9 years). A trivial main effect of nationality on race time was shown (P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 008) with Ethiopians (2: 49: 24  0: 49: 17 h: min: s) and Kenyans (3: 08: 34  1: 05: 46 h: min: s) being the fastest and Japanese the slowest (4: 30: 43  0: 54: 37 h: min: s). A trivial split  nationality interaction on race speed was observed in women (P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 004) and men (P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 005) with Ethiopians and Kenyans showing more even pacing strategies than the other nationalities (P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 003; P < 0. 001,  2 = 0. 004, respectively). Accordingly, the largest prevalence of end spurt (women,  2 = 646. 2, P < 0. 001, '= 0. 074; men,  2 = 1163. 2, P < 0. 001, '= 0. 080) was found in U. S.-Americans in women (87. 2%) and men (78. 2%), whereas the smallest was in Ethiopians (54. 3%) and Kenyans (45. 8%), respectively. Based on these findings, it was concluded that nationality plays a role on Marathon runners’ pacing, which might be attributed to differences in performance level among nationalities and running tactics.