Marathon. The athletic event Marathon gets its name from a battle between the Persians and Greeks. The Battle of Marathon was fought because the Persian Army wanted to defeat the Greek city-states that supported the uprisings in Ionia, part of modern-day Turkey, against the Persian Empire. The marathon is named after the Athenians' 490 BC victory against the Persian army at Marathon, near Athens. Pheidippides, a Greek runner, hurried to tell the citizens of Athens the news, but he died in the process.