By Lauren HollandUpdated November 2026
The first marathon has no official winner in the modern sense, because the event was never a sanctioned race. Historians generally credit the Athenian messenger Pheidippides as the runner who covered the distance, carrying news of the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC back to Athens. Who won the first marathon, then, depends on whether you count the ancient messenger run or the first organized race in 1896.
Who Was Pheidippides?
Pheidippides was a professional runner, or hemerodromos, employed by the Athenian state to carry messages over long distances. The most famous account, written centuries later by Plutarch and Lucian, describes him running from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens to announce victory, then collapsing and dying after delivering the news. The story is widely repeated, but it is a later retelling rather than a contemporary record. Herodotus, who wrote closer to the events, describes a different earlier run from Athens to Sparta to request help before the battle.
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The gap between the legend and the sources is the main reason the question is hard to answer cleanly. The core of the story, that a runner made a long dash from Marathon to Athens, is accepted by many historians. The death at the end is much less certain.
Why There Is No Official Winner
A winner requires a competition, and the ancient run was not one. Pheidippides was a messenger completing a task, not an athlete racing against rivals. No results were recorded, no finishing order was kept, and no prize was awarded for the run itself. Asking who won the first marathon in 490 BC is therefore a little like asking who won the first trip from New York to Boston by car: someone did it, but no one was competing for first place.
The modern event has a documented winner. At the 1896 Athens Olympics, the first organized marathon was won by Spyridon Louis, a Greek water carrier, who finished in a time of about 2 hours 58 minutes. That race was held on a route roughly following the traditional Marathon-to-Athens path, which is why it is often treated as the first marathon in the sporting sense.
Factors That Shape the Answer
When people search for who won the first marathon, they usually mean one of three things. Understanding which one applies helps you find the right answer quickly.
- The legendary messenger run (490 BC): Pheidippides is the figure most often named, though the account is based on later sources.
- The first Olympic marathon (1896): Spyridon Louis won the first race held under that name in the modern Games.
- The first women’s marathon winner (1984 Olympics): Joan Benoit Samuelson won the first women’s Olympic marathon, a different milestone that is sometimes confused with the original event.
Keeping these separate avoids most of the confusion. The ancient run is a historical event, the 1896 race is the first competitive marathon, and the 1984 race marks the first time women competed in the Olympic marathon.
How to Check the Facts Yourself
If you need to cite the answer for school, a blog post or a race program, use a few steps to confirm what you find:
- Start with the original ancient sources, Herodotus and later writers such as Plutarch and Lucian, and note which details appear in each.
- Check whether the source was written close to the events or centuries afterward.
- Separate the legend of the death from the account of the run itself.
- For the 1896 race, confirm the result through the International Olympic Committee’s official records or a major sports history reference.
- When in doubt, state the answer with its qualifier: the legendary runner was Pheidippides, and the first recorded winner of a marathon race was Spyridon Louis in 1896.
Related questions
For more on the history, see Who Ran the First Marathon? The 490 BC Story Explained and Who Ran the First Marathon in Ancient Greece? The Pheidippides Story. The modern race is covered in First Women's Olympic Marathon: When It Happened and Who Won.
Was Pheidippides the winner of the first marathon?
He is the runner most associated with the first marathon, but no contest was held in 490 BC, so he was not a winner in the competitive sense. He was a messenger who made a long run.
Who won the first Olympic marathon?
Spyridon Louis of Greece won the 1896 Olympic marathon in Athens, finishing in about 2 hours 58 minutes.
Who won the first women’s marathon?
Joan Benoit Samuelson of the United States won the first women’s Olympic marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Did Pheidippides die after running to Athens?
The death is part of a later legend found in sources such as Lucian. Earlier accounts do not confirm it, so treat it as a traditional story rather than settled fact.
Is the 1896 race the official first marathon?
It is the first organized marathon race and the starting point for the modern event, though the ancient run is the historical origin of the name.
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About Lauren Holland
Lauren Holland is part of our editorial team and reviews and edits our marathon & half-marathon guides, checking product details against manufacturer specifications and owner feedback.
