[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/marathon.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / marathon

[← M](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/M/)

# marathon

«marathon» in Mova's school dictionary: **A running race of about 42 kilometres (26.2 miles)** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a marathon, marathons); adjective (marathon)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A running race of about 42 kilometres (26.2 miles). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#m1)

2) Any very long activity or event that needs lots of energy: a homework marathon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#m2)

3) (adjective) Very long: a marathon meeting. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#m3)

4) Marathon is also a town in Greece, famous for an ancient battle and a legendary bull. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In PE and sport, a marathon is the long-distance road race; a half marathon is half that distance. In everyday talk «marathon» means anything that goes on for a long time: «a TV marathon», «a marathon shopping trip». In maths problems the distance may be given: a marathon is 42.195 km. Phrases: run a marathon, half marathon, a marathon session.

### examples

- My aunt ran the London Marathon for charity. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x1)
- A marathon is about 42 kilometres long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x2)
- We watched a film marathon all afternoon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x3)
- The meeting turned into a marathon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x4)
- She is training for a half marathon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x5)
- Running a marathon takes months of training. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x6)
- Packing for the trip was a real marathon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x7)
- Thousands of runners took part in the marathon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x8)
- He accordingly decided to rid the country of the famous bull of Marathon, which had become a terror to the cultivators of the land. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/#x9)

### note

Countable: marathons. In maths: marathon = 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards); half marathon is about 21.1 km. Myth note: the name comes from an old Greek story about a runner from Marathon to Athens. Capital M in race names: the Boston Marathon.

### In the corpora

- [Together they faced the mighty Persian Empire at Marathon and Thermopylae.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/11-ancient-greece-city-states-athens-and-sparta/3/)
- [A marathon is about 42 km, so a 2 km school cross-country is about 21 times shorter.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/55-food-myths-and-fads/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «marathon» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/marathon/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.