In 490 BC there was a big war between the Persians and the Greeks.

Persia was a strong country, much     1     than Greece. It wanted to beat Athens. There were 100, 000 Persian soldiers and only 10, 000 Greek soldiers. It was very     2    . The Greeks sent Pheidippides, a soldier to Sparta to get help. But the Spartans would not     3     until there was a full moon. Pheidippides returned to Marathon alone.

The Greeks could not wait and attacked the Persian army.     4    , they defeated the Persians. The Persians ran to     5     ships and tried to escape. They went to Athens to catch the Greek women,     6     and old people waiting there. Pheidippides now had another job. He ran more than 40 kilometres to Athens to tell the Greeks that they had won and to tell them that the Persians were     7    .

He arrived at the city gates very tired. “Great news. We won!” he     8    . Then he died. From this great event, the     9     marathon race of the modern Olympic Games was run in 1896. It was won by a Greek runner, Spyridon Louis. And, like Pheidippides a long time before, he also carried     10    . He was a postman.