Today, your best friends at The FindSportsNow Blog are rolling out a new weekly feature where we'll take a look at the origins of one of the hundreds of sports posted on the site. This week's selection is everyone's favorite way to travel 26 miles, MARATHON.

Like all of history's craziest inventions (maps, thermometers, democracy) marathon began in ancient Greece. As the story goes, the Greek army had just scored a major victory over the ever-menacing Persians. In the midst of soaking the locker room in wine and ouzo, they realized that they hadn't started bragging yet. Wanting to spread the word as quickly as possible, they sent the ancient world's equivalent to a text message: a foot messenger. This messenger, Pheidippides, strapped on his sandals and ran from the battleground in Marathon to the media capital of Greece - Athens. Upon arriving in the ATH, Pheidippides said, "We have won...." Then, he fell over and died. Which, by all accounts, makes him the first person in the world to regret running a marathon. Fortunately for both modern-day distance runners and corporate sponsors alike, Pheidippides tragic run through the Greek countryside has been immortalized in the sport/race/experience known as marathon.