The Athens Marathon is known as the 'Mother of Marathons'. Participants run from the village of Marathon to Athens, the same route the messenger ran in ancient times to tell the Athenians of their victory over the much larger Persian army. The finish line is at the iconic Panathinaikon stadium, a marble U-shaped reconstruction of an ancient arena with around 80,000 seats, where the very first modern Olympic Games took place.

In 2019, SEGAS, the Greek athletics federation, and PROM'ES have partnered for a unique marathon medal series. The series consists of eight medals, designed by well-known Greek and foreign artists. One side features a key moment in the history of Olympic marathon sport, changing for each medal. On the other side of all eight medals, two types of metal have been used to depict the Panathenaic Stadium, to the design of Greek Spyros Kizis. Each medal has a letter of the word MARATHON. By 2027, the combination of the eight engraved letters will spell out the whole word.

The anniversary edition in 2023 saw a record 20,322 registered runners at the start in the village of Marathon. Edwin Kiptoo from Kenya won the 40th edition in a new course record of 02:10:34. The course of the Athens Marathon is hilly. As a result, times close to the world's best are not possible.

An extra medal was issued especially for the anniversary edition. Participants could order an anniversary medal in addition to their finisher medal. The unique medal is packaged in a beautiful gift box and will be added to their collection not only by avid runners, but also by coin collectors.