A 153 mile (246 kilometer) foot race held annually in Greece since 1983 between Athens and Sparta: The Spartathon strives to trace the same route that Pheidippides, an Athenian messenger, ran when he was sent to Sparta from Athens in 490 B.C. to get help in fighting against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon.

The Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote: "On the occasion of which we speak, when Pheidippides was sent by the Athenian generals, he arrived in Sparta on the very next day after leaving the city of Athens."