some evidence has been found that shows the earliest documented running races took place during religious and spiritual ceremonies in europe, asia and africa - depending on the region, the winner of these races was considered to be blessed by the deity of the time.

other races, such as the tailteann games of ireland were celebrated in honor of a goddess, but the winner was not considered blessed, and during the reign of ancient greece, running was commonly intertwined into local sporting events - it is known that the very first ancient olympics hosted several running events.

the word marathon was derived from the legend of the greek messenger, philippides, running back from the battlefield in marathon to announce the defeat of the persians.