Marathon was full of almost superhuman feats, some even outside of battle. Phidippedes, a long distance runner, ran to Sparta in a single day to ask for help. He then ran back to Marathon and ran the 26 miles to Athens, giving us our modern Marathon distance. One professor of ours highly doubted the accuracy of the text (he thinks it was written later) but I prefer to disbelieve him rather than crush all hope. The Sparta run was doubted until a 'Spartathon' was completed a few years ago. It is around 125 miles. A world-reknowned Greek runner completed it in just under 27 hours. This gives an average of just over 13 minutes a mile, up and over a mountain range.
