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The Olympic Games are indisputably a spectacle of sorts, with viewers both at the venue, and from their homes witnessing superhuman feats being accomplished, records being shattered and tears of joy, running down the athlete's cheeks. It transcends every boundary ever created to engage billions into witnessing the exhibition. Forget the Olympics as a whole; every sport competed at the Olympics has come into being, owing to some historical manifestation or a persistent legend. One such certain spectacle which has managed to capture the imagination of men, even 2500 years after its legendary birth is the Marathon.

Legend has it that the Ancient Greeks were no strangers to the phenomenon of running long distances. However, the purpose was not competition, but merely communication. One event, which according to historians changed the course of history, was the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. According to the history books, a messenger named Pheidippides was sent back to Athens, 150 miles away to carry the news of the great victory, where he collapsed and died soon after making the announcement. It is said that he ran the complete distance without halting. The legend took hold and gave birth to an event which we now call the Marathon.

The Marathon became a reality when the organizers of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 were looking for an event that would relive the ancient glory of Greece and increase popularity. A selection race was held for the Olympic Marathon, which had the future winner of the event at the Olympics coming in 5th. Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier, won the first Olympic Marathon in 2 hours 58 minutes, 50 seconds. The race was started only as a men's event. The women's event was added much later at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

The Marathon races were first run for roughly around 40 kilometers. The length depended on the route set up for each venue. Although the distance for the race was not standardized until 1921, the Marathon is now officially, a ‘42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards)' long distance running event. Since the advent of the modern Olympic Games, the Marathon is traditionally the last event of the athletics calendar, with the finish line inside the Olympic Stadium. Sometimes, it is even incorporated into the closing ceremonies.

Most of the times, the competing athletes do not participate to win. They do so to achieve their personal best or sometimes just to make sure they finish. Competitors either choose to actually run the whole distance or use a run-walk strategy. Another approach is run till ‘water stops' and walk through the water stop area after consuming water. Runners, who train themselves for weeks before the race, set targets while running in order to complete the race in a said number of hours. The pace maintained throughout the race by the runners is well watched by their coaches. Most coaches recommend the runners to run at a steady pace and not switch between too fast or too slow.

Unlike other athletic events in the Olympic Games, the Marathon is not bound by a stringent set of rules and regulations. However, certain etiquettes are expected of the participants in order to maintain decorum throughout the race. Participants who employ the walk-run strategy ideally should talk a side path while doing so in order to make way for steady paced or fast runners. Likewise, participants who run in groups are expected not to block the entire street.

It was only on the 1st of January, 2004 that the world records were officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Previously they were simply referred to as the ‘world's best' times. Marathon courses had to then conform to the standards set by the IAAF for records to be officially recognized. However, they still differ vastly in terms of surface, elevation, etc, thus making exact comparisons impossible. Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie set the World record time for men at the Berlin Marathon a couple of years back in 2008, breaking his previous best. The man with the iron lung clocked 2 hours, 3 minutes and 59 seconds, averaging 20.4 km/hr. The fastest time for women is held by Brit Paula Radcliffe, a feat she achieved at the London Marathon in 2003. She clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

The Commonwealth Games too doesn't fail to produce spectacular displays by athletes in the Marathon event. Englishman Ian Thompson holds the Commonwealth record with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 12 seconds. And with a record time of 2 hours, 30 minutes and 5 seconds, Australian Kerryn McCann tops the Women's charts, a feat she achieved at the 2002 Manchester games. Unfortunately, the Athletics world lost Kerryn in 2008 where she died due to breast cancer. She would have been the defending champion this year at the games. Koskei Hellen Cherono finished in second place in the 2006 Melbourne Games marathon. The Kenyan athlete broke her personal best record in the event.

When it comes to long distance running, Kenyan athletes come second to none. With a strong Marathon line up this year, Kenya will look to dominate the event with iron - lunged athletes like Luke Kibet, Amos Matui, John Kilai Ekiru in the men's squad and Caroline Kilel, Irene Jerotich Kosgei, Rose Kerubo in the women's squad. India's chances at the Marathon look slim as they have not fared quite well at the previous editions, finishing nowhere near the top. Bining L. will attempt to better his personal best in the men's event, while Sukanya Mall Singh will try her hand for a decent finish in the women's event.

Will the weather play spoilsport for most of the athletes will be interesting to see, as the Marathon event promises to be one of the most challenging ones, come this October. A spectator friendly event, it surely promises to draw a lot of participation from locals, to cheer athletes who will be trying to beat all odds to achieve a decent finish.