1. Someone who can demonstrate his or her stamina or power of endurance: The opera singer was a marathoner who often showed his lung power as he was performing.

A slim and young marathoner has been working out at a fitness studio for months so she can compete against older and heavier women for the "strongest-woman" contest.

2. Origin late 19th century from Marathon in Greece, the scene of a victory over the Persians in 490 B.C.

The modern race is based on the tradition that a messenger ran from Marathon to Athens, 22 miles, with the news.

The original account was told by Herodotus who wrote that the messenger, Pheidippides, ran the equivalent of 150 miles from Athens to Sparta before the battle asking for help in fighting the Persians.