Marathon... the running trend...

The Authentic Marathon is one of the biggest running events of all time. But which is the history of this name?

 The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the herb fennel, called marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek,[3][n 1] so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennels".[5] It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.
The burial mound of the Plataeans, fallen at the Battle of Marathon

After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.

The name of the athletic long-distance endurance race, the "marathon",[n 2] comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier and runner who was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.

source: wikipedia.org