Calorie-counting, pre- and post exercise meals and some proper training is in focus when celebrating the world's oldest annual marathon. For those of us who like exercising in numbers we might as well make a whole day of it. The name marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend says that he was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire… distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming "We have won" before collapsing and dying. In preparing for the first modern Olympic games in 1896, the organizers looked for an event that would recall the glory of ancient Greece, so they introduced the marathon. That race was won by Spiridon "Spiros" Louis, a Greek water-carrier, in a time of 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds. After experiencing the spirit of the Olympic Marathon, the U.S. Olympic Team Manager John Graham was inspired to organize a marathon in the Boston area. On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York, emerged from a 15-member starting field and won the first Boston Marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes and 10 seconds→