marathon

marathon — adjective

1. Relating to the long-distance running race of about 42 kilometres that people tr

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

Relating to the long-distance running race of about 42 kilometres that people train for and run on a marked course.

Example

Liang wore his marathon medal around his neck after finishing the race.

marathon medal — noun-modifier pattern

The marathon route went through several villages before reaching the coast.

Common collocations
  • marathon runner
  • marathon race
  • marathon course
  • marathon training
  • marathon medal
  • marathon route

Grammar Patterns

marathon + noun

Usage Note

Only used before a noun (attributive position). You cannot say 'The race was marathon' — instead say 'The race was a marathon' or use 'The marathon race...'

Common Mistakes

He ran marathon yesterday.
He ran a marathon yesterday.
'marathon' as a noun needs a determiner (a/an/the).
That meeting was marathon.
That was a marathon meeting.
as an adjective, 'marathon' must come before the noun it modifies.

2. Describing an activity, event, or experience that lasts an extremely long time a

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

Describing an activity, event, or experience that lasts an extremely long time and leaves you exhausted, as if you had just run a full race.

Example

Writing a thesis can feel like a marathon task for many students.

marathon task — figurative use

After a marathon meeting that lasted eight hours, the team finally reached a decision.

Common collocations
  • marathon meeting
  • marathon session
  • marathon task
  • marathon flight
  • marathon weekend
  • marathon day
  • marathon shopping trip
Synonyms
  • endless

    focuses on duration without the same sense of effort

  • gruelling

    emphasises the difficulty and exhaustion more than the length

  • never-ending

    more informal, suggests the event seemed to continue forever

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

marathon + noun

Usage Note

Frequently used with nouns describing events or tasks: meeting, session, flight, task, weekend, day, shopping trip. Less common with emotional states or relationships.

Common Mistakes

The queue was marathon.
The queue was a marathon wait.
the figurative adjective still needs to come before a noun.
I had a marathon day and felt a marathon.
I had a marathon day and felt exhausted.
'marathon' as adjective cannot describe a person's feeling directly.

marathon — noun

marathon — idiom

Word family

  • marathoner
    nounB2
  • marathon runner
    nounB1
  • half-marathon
    nounB2
  • ultramarathon
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A marathon is a specific type of foot race with an exact distance of 42.195 kilometres. 'Race' is the most general term — it covers any speed competition, from a 100-metre dash to a car race. 'Footrace' is a more formal word that simply means any race on foot, regardless of distance. A 'long-distance run' describes the nature of the activity but does not specify the exact length. A 'half-marathon' is half the marathon distance (21.1 km). If someone says 'I ran a race', they could mean almost anything. If they say 'I ran a marathon', they mean a precise, well-known event distance. Use 'marathon' when the exact 42.2 km distance matters or when referring to the formal sporting event.

race ↗footracelong-distance runhalf-marathon

Common collocations

Nouns

  • marathon runner
  • marathon distance
  • marathon course
  • marathon route

Phrases

  • a marathon, not a sprint

Prepositions

  • in a marathon
  • during a marathon
  • at the marathon
  • for the marathon

Etymology

GreekEnglish

The word 'marathon' comes from the Greek town of Marathon (Μαραθών), the site of a famous battle in 490 BC. According to legend, a Greek messenger ran from Marathon to Athens — about 40 kilometres — to announce the victory, then collapsed and died. The name Marathon itself is thought to come from the Greek word 'marathon' (μάραθον), meaning 'fennel', because the plant grew abundantly on the plain. The modern sporting use began with the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, which included a race from Marathon to Athens to honour the ancient legend.