Editing Marathon, Florida (section)

==History==
[[File:TRAILER PARK UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT MARATHON IN THE CENTRAL FLORIDA KEYS. THIS IS ONE OF MANY SUCH PARKS SPRINGING UP... - NARA - 548762.jpg|thumb|left|A trailer park under construction in Marathon, 1973]]
Though the area has been settled for some time, Marathon is a relatively new city, incorporated in 1999.

The name Marathon dates back to the origin of the [[Florida East Coast Railroad]]. The name came from the railroad workers who were working night and day to complete the railway; due to the unrelenting pace and struggle to complete the project, workers complained that "this is getting to be a real marathon", and the word was later used to name the local railroad station.<ref>[http://www.keyshistory.org/marathon.html History of Marathon]</ref>

The Keys historian Dan Gallager in his book ''Florida's Great Ocean Railway'' credits New York playwright [[Witter Bynner]] for naming Marathon. According to Gallager, [[J.R. Parrott]], then Florida East Coast Railway's President and General Manager, invited Brynner to the Keys to "plot stations for the railroad". When asked to generate a name for the station at Key Vaca, Brynner proposed "Marathon", inspired by the following passage from [[Lord Byron|Byron]]: "The mountains look on Marathon—and Marathon looks on the sea."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Dan |title=Florida's Great Ocean Railway |date=2003 |publisher=Pineapple Press, Inc. |location=Sarasota, Fla. |isbn=9781561642694}}</ref>

===Hurricane Irma===
Marathon experienced significant damage from the September 10, 2017, U.S. landfall of [[Hurricane Irma]]. One of the earliest casualties of the storm was a man who died in a school shelter.<ref>Goodhue, David. City of Marathon: 'Everything is underwater, I mean everything'. ''flkeysnews.com'' September 10, 2017. [http://www.flkeysnews.com/news/local/article172399102.html] Accessed September 10, 2017.</ref> Marathon was one of the earliest spots in the Keys to receive transport of needed supplies to deal with the aftermath of Irma. The [[Florida Air National Guard|Air National Guard]] landed two C-130 transport planes every two hours beginning on the morning of September 11.<ref>Goodhue, David. Massive airborne relief mission on the way to the Keys to help with 'humanitarian crisis'. ''flkeysnews.com'' September 10, 2017. [http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article172462426.html#storylink=cpy] Accessed September 10, 2017.</ref>