The year 2024 marks 100 years since the first Marathon in Košice. This anniversary is commemorated by a Slovak commemorative coin.

When the Greeks won over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 495 BC, they sent a messenger to take the news to Athens. A man named Feidippides ran forty-two kilometres without stopping, and as soon as he delivered the message, he died of exhaustion... The story of the ancient runner's dedication and tenacity has gone down in history and inspired generations hundreds and thousands of years later. Marathon running became part of the Olympics in 1896. When Vojtěch Bukovský, an athlete from Košice, visited the Summer Games in Paris in 1924, he fell in love with the idea of an endurance race. He brought it with him to Slovakia and a few weeks later, eight enthusiasts set off for Košice to start under the ruins of Turnian Castle. The course was measured exactly according to the regulations, at 42.195 km. The first winner of the marathon in eastern Slovakia was a local runner Karol Halla, but the very next year's edition was already international. The Košice Marathon became the oldest in Europe and the third oldest in the world after the Boston and New York marathons...

Medal maker Mgr. Roman Lugár dedicated the obverse side of the coin to the marathon runner and the St. Elizabeth Cathedral, which is the architectural landmark of Košice. The relief is supplemented with the texts KOŠICKÝ MARATÓN, SLOVENSKO, the anniversary years 1924-2024 and the stars of the European Union. The reverse side then presents all the requirements of a valid coin with a nominal value of 2€.

The base metal commemorative coin was minted by the Mincovňa Kremnica Mint and issued by the National Bank of Slovakia.