4356 Marathon was discovered on October 17, 1960 at Palomar Observatory near Pauma Valley, California by C.J. Van Houten and Ingrid Van Houten-Groeneveld. It has a period of 4 years, 249 days, and is about 9 1/5 miles in diameter. The asteroid was named for a town in Greece about 28 miles from Athens where an Athenian army defeated a Persian army in one of history's most famous battles, on September 17, 473 BCE. A runner named Pheidippias ran the entire 28 1/2 miles to Athens to bring the news; he collapsed and died shortly after delivering his message. This epic long-distance run was the prototype of the marathon run, which is still 28.5 miles long according to standard. The word "marathon" has come to mean any extraordinarily long event, such as a long string of reruns of a given show back to back or an unusually long speech.
Astrologically, asteroid Marathon signifies being in something for the long haul, staying power, longevity, great length and/or endurance.
Muhammad Ali, whose legend will last a lot longer than his boxing career did, has Marathon in the eighth house of legacies, conjunct South Node, Antenor(being seen as subversive), Tisiphone(getting one's just due), and Tantalus(frustration);undecimal the Moon(the public), Hylonome(popular appeal), Varuna(hugeness, pompousness, boastfulness, judgmental attitude), House(home life), and Simpson(beating the rap); sextile Pholus(to be honored, to get under someone's skin, to overcome fear of power), Aquilegia(tragedy), Summa("the greatest", to be a champion), Gorky(bitterness), Hebe(service to others), and Hephaistos(to be disabled); biundecimal Saturn(hard work, career); quintile Uranus(to defy, to break loose, activism); binonile the Black Moon(wildness); square Jupiter(prosperity, the law, religion), Vesta(dedication), Asbolus(listening to one's own heart, awful experiences), Hidalgo(to assert oneself, promote one's own agenda), and Eurydike(to lose something gained); trine Juno(marriage, the rage of the downtrodden), Casanova(selfish pleasure, wide-ranging adventure), and Melpomene(tragedy); quincunx Hybris(hubris), Sisyphus(frustration), and Tutenchamun(to claim or reclaim what rightfully belongs to you); quindecile Neptune(idealism); opposite North Node(to overcome old habit matterns); parallel McAuliffe(liabilities) and Armor; and contraparallel Sophia(ideas rejected) and Thule(bigotry, being too good for somebody).
Veteran movie star Marlon Brando has Marathon in the sixth house, conjunct McAuliffe, Cupido(how things look, cultural issues), Circe(helping others), Eurydike, Sassi(defiance, bad-boy appeal) and Tutenchamun; semisextile Chiron and Abanderada(activism); decile the Sun(to shine, celebrity, acting); septile Ceres; sextile Uranus, Pandora(to shake things up, to look for stimulation), Varuna and the Vertex(idealized or significant relationships); square Neptune, Damocles(crisis, to challenge, to push the envelope), Odysseus(cleverness), and Ophelia(disproportionate reaction); trine Mars(aggression, assertion, ruggedness) and the Midheaven(career, reputation); quincunx Jupiter and the East Point(how the world sees you); quadnonagon Saturn;parallel Phaethon(out of control) and Jabberwock(monsters slain).
Walt Disney built a company which is synonymous with family entertainment and has been immensely influential in the field of animated films(like Bambi, the movie that created legions of vegetarians and animal-rights activists), and is still going strong to this day; but The Walt Disney Company has been accused of putting out pablum and exploiting its workers and is notoriously protective of its copyrights. Walt Disney had Marathon conjunct Asbolus(to listen to oneself, advice taken or not taken) and Armor; semisextile Hephaistos(lameness);decile Juno and the East Point; septile the Moon(young children, the public); sextile Pluto(transformative, unforgettable, generating movements); Cuitlahuac(knowing one's limitations, having to quit eventually) and Photographica(motion pictures); square Vesta, the Black Moon, Panacea(problem-solving), and Simpson(escaping blame, or having your misdeeds come back to haunt you); trine Uranus(technology, innovation), Hidalgo(to promote, to defend), Abanderada(to raise a banner, to wave a flag, to advertise), and Circe; sesquiquadrate Chiron(ingenuity); quincunx the Vertex and Casanova; quadnonagon Pallas(creativity, politics, wisdom); opposite Chariklo(glamor), Varuna, and Hybris; parallel Neptune; and contraparallel Jupiter and Saturn.
Queen Elizabeth II, one of Britain's longest-reigning monarchs, has presided over the dismantling of the globe-girdling empire her ancestors built and an epochal transformation in British society and politics that includes the granting of more powers to Scotland and Wales, reforms in the British system of government and an increasing "Americanization" of British society. Her family's antics are a continuing tawdry soap opera. Throughout all this, she herself has remained a model of public decorum, a beloved and revered figure who sometimes seems to defy time, and a unifying figure. She has Marathon in the eighth house, conjunct Sophia(ideas rejected); semisextile the Black Moon; decile Tisiphone; nonile Vesta; sextile Saturn(conservatism, hard work, social structure), the Midheaven, Don Quixote(to go against The System), Requiem, and Hebe; quintile Pluto, Pallas(politics, defense of civilization); binonile Vesta; square Pholus(to show honor), Memnon(optimism, to celebrate new beginnings, to be under the microscope), Panacea, and Photographica; trine the Ascendant(the physical body), Casanova(far-ranging adventure or travel), Hammurabi(exacting codes of conduct), Hephaistos(unlikely relationships), Ophelia(disproportionate or irrational behavior), and the North Node(rising above old habit patterns); biquintile the Sun(to shine, monarchs); quincunx Melpomene; opposite Uranus(necessary changes, tectonic shifts in society), Hylonome(popularity), Varuna(primness, hugeness, judgmental behavior),and Cheshirecat(keeping "a stiff upper lip"); and contraparallel House(home and family life).
The glyph for Marathon, suggesting a turtle, is my own conception. The turtle plods along, patiently putting one foot in front of another, and eventually reaches its destination; turtles are notably long-lived; in some cosmologies, the world rides upon a turtle's back.