God Save The Queen !! - Marathon and the London connection

Greek Marathoner.
This pic is from London Marathon.. I thought it cud b a
pretty good symbolic shot.. a Greek dressed up (I
guess,) as Pheidippides [the first marathoner- the
soldier who, after Greek victory over the Persians,
ran from a battlefield at the site of the
town of Marathon, to Athens in 490 B.C., delivered the
momentous message "Niki!" ("victory"), then collapsed
and died. .. ],
against the backgrnd of the best known modern London
landmark.

Interestingly, the current Marathon distance of 26mi
originated from London, compared to the original Greek
distance of 24.85mi (40km), sez..

http://www.athensmarathon.com/marathon/history.html

--At the 1908 Olympic Games in London, the marathon
distance was changed to 26 miles to cover the ground
from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, with 385
yards added on so the race could finish in front of
royal family's viewing box. This added two miles to
the course, and is the origin of the Marathon
tradition of shouting "God save the Queen!" (or other
words relating to the Queen) as mile post 24 is
passed.
--