那场叫作马拉松的长跑比赛

马拉松是一种非常长的跑步比赛。跑者大约要跑四十二公里。这是很长的距离，很多人要训练好几个月，才能迎接比赛那天。

A marathon is a very long running race. Runners go about forty-two kilometres. That is a long way, and many people train for months before the big day.

这个确切的距离有一个有趣的故事。在一九零八年的伦敦奥运会上，比赛从一座城堡附近出发，终点设在一个大体育场里。组织者把比赛距离定为四十二点一九五公里，好让比赛正好在国王和王后面前结束。

The exact distance has a funny story. At the London Olympic Games in nineteen oh eight, the race started near a castle and finished in a big stadium. The organisers made the race forty-two point one nine five kilometres, so it ended in front of the king and queen.

人们非常喜欢这个距离。一九二一年，它成了所有马拉松比赛的正式距离。今天，全世界的跑者都跑着同样的距离，他们也记得伦敦的那一天。

People liked that distance very much. In nineteen twenty-one, it became the official length for all marathons. Today, runners all over the world run the same distance, and they remember that day in London.