Editing Marathon

{{IB-Level
 |image      = Marathon.png
 |id         = 57595201
 |creator    = [[weoweoteo]] (publisher); Hinds
 |verifier   = [[Luqualizer]]
 |created    = [[Update 2.1]]
 |updated    = [[Update 2.2]]
 |difficulty = {{ExtremeDemon}}
 |stars      = 10
 |coins      = 3
 |length     = 4m 34s (XL)
 |objects    = 32,994
 |copytype   = No password
 |downloads  = 326K
 |likes      = 15.2K
 |rating     = Featured
 |artist     = [https://metea11.newgrounds.com/ Metea11]
 |music      = [https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1218829 Troubles]
 |musicid    = 1218829
}}
'''Marathon''' is a [[Update 2.1|2.1]] Extreme Demon collaboration level by [[weoweoteo]] and Hinds, verified by [[Luqualizer]] on 28 September 2019.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_L0ahpeYV4</ref> The level, which contains only the cube game-mode, features 26 sections, one for each mile of a marathon, testing memory and timing endurance; it is also in a 1.0-[[Update 2.0|2.0]] style, which sparked drama among players debating if it should be star-rated or featured; it ultimately was featured. Because of its particular skill set, it has gained a notorious reputation among top players.

==Description==
There are several gameplay features to highlight.
*All portals, pads, and orbs are black, so the only way to recognise them is through their particles (except if the player has the game's Low Detail Mode at work).
*There are no dash orbs.
*The whole level is memory-based.

Marathon is divided into 26 sections, each representing one mile and numbered as it progresses. Each of these sections has a different background colour and structure design.
*'''0-4% (Mile 1):''' The background is bright red/pink coloured. The gameplay is simple and contains many fake paths.
*'''4-8% (Mile 2):''' The background colour changes to a darker shade of pink, and the gameplay is similar to the first mile.
*'''8-12% (Mile 3):''' The background is now dark blue. The structures now have black blocks, and the gameplay still utilises several fake paths.
*'''12-16% (Mile 4):''' The gameplay has no changes in structures and fakes, but the background becomes darker.
*'''16-24% (Mile 5):''' The player becomes mini. The concept of this section is small platforms and blocks; there are still many fake paths, and the background is dark red.
*'''24-30% (Mile 6):''' The background is now dark purple. In this part, the player must jump on several pillars with spikes and avoid some mini-spikes. There is a purple key that the player must obtain. If skipped, a further part of the level would become impossible to pass.
*'''30-33% (Mile 7):''' The background becomes black, and the player's size changes to normal. Unlike the rest of the miles, this mile has no fakes, only based on doing seven tight jumps; the first six are triple spikes, each one structured differently from the others, and the last one is four low spikes attached to be physically possible.
*'''33-39% (Mile 8):''' The background becomes grey. The player's size changes to mini, and they must hit many orbs attached to blocks and jump on small blocks with abundant fakes.
*'''39-42% (Mile 9):''' The background becomes black, and the blocks are green. The player must jump over many blocks and avoid invisible ones.
*'''42-45% (Mile 10):''' The background is still dark and pulses to dark green sometimes. The player must hit and avoid orbs without hitting sawblades, blocks and spikes. The key in Mile 6 toggles an orb at 44.1% for the player to pass. This section becomes impossible if the player skips the key.
*'''45-50% (Mile 11):''' The background is purple and turns darker and brighter. The player is now normal-sized and must go through some bricks by jumping or falling; the bricks often turn black, making them hard to see, then brighten. Notice that some pulsing hearts indicate the path that the player must take.
*'''50-55% (Mile 12):''' A simple part that can be easily beaten without much memory required. It is only jumping onto some pillars. The background is dark orange.
*'''55-57% (Mile 13):''' The background is cyan. The player is now mini-sized and must avoid spikes and jump onto the correct platforms. The player now goes at double speed.
*'''57-60% (Mile 14):''' The player has to go through small blocks, jump over spikes and hit orbs.
*'''60-63% (Mile 15):''' The player becomes a dual, the background turns grey, and the blocks turn white. The player must perform tricky buffer clicks and timings based on both icons' locations.
*'''63-66% (Mile 16):''' This section requires some learning but is simple when mastered. The background stays grey, and the player enters a mirror portal, becomes normal-sized and must now jump through blocks to avoid spikes while the monochromatic block design changes constantly, making some platforms invisible.
*'''66-68% (Mile 17):''' The background becomes yellow, and the player enters a mirror portal returning to normal. This section is trickier than the rest because the player must tap or hold at the locations of particular orbs, depending on whether they should be activated, while also being wary of timings, including one particularly difficult one at approximately 67.1%.
*'''68-71% (Mile 18):''' Another dual section similar to the previous one. The background stays yellow as the player must jump on certain mini blocks and time yellow orbs.
*'''71-72% (Mile 19):''' The player becomes a single normal-sized cube at normal speed as the song takes a short break. The ground is covered in a blue glow, and the background becomes a dark grey, slightly obscuring the overhead obstacles. Despite being one of the slowest sections and very easy to learn, this section has some of the hardest timings. It includes one at the beginning where the player must jump at the edge of a mini block to avoid hitting a spike overhead (though this timing can be skipped using a coin route).
*'''72-78% (Mile 20):''' The player goes into triple speed, and the background becomes purple. This section contains numerous fake paths in the first half but more straightforward gameplay in the second.
*'''78-81% (Mile 21):''' The background changes to green, and the player size constantly changes between normal and mini. The gameplay consists of a series of stacked-size portals. All of the blocks are invisible.
*'''81-84% (Mile 22):''' The background changes to a dark grey, and the gameplay flashes visible and then invisible. The player must take a specific path to toggle an orb at approximately 82.8%.
*'''84-90% (Mile 23):''' This section is the most well-known. The background is entirely black, and the player starts at normal speed. The first section consists of rows of white lines with hidden one-sided outline blocks. These rows occasionally flash, revealing the blocks. The second section doubles the speed and replaces the one-sided blocks with corner blocks, making them nearly impossible to see. The third section is at triple speed. There are columns of lines moving up and down, and the blocks are now practically invisible.
*'''90-93% (Mile 24):''' This section consists of only two clicks. At the first click, the player must click a toggle orb in the middle of a series of gravity orbs. There is a visual cue to help time the click: lining up the number 24 that follows the player on the right side inside an incoming circle. With the second click, the player must clear a tight gap of spikes. Not clicking the toggle orb will render the second click impossible because it replaces a spike after the jump with a necessary gravity pad.
*'''93-98% (Mile 25):''' The background changes to the same colour as Mile 1, and the speed changes to half speed. The gameplay consists of two stacked gravity portals, separated by a barrier. This part transitions into gameplay similar to Mile 1 about halfway through.
*'''98-100% (Mile 26):''' The background changes to black with blue decoration. This section is short and only features a few clicks before the level ends.

==User coins==
*The first coin is located at 4.3% in Mile 1, which requires hitting a crossed-out yellow orb after hitting a blue pad to land on top of some platforms and jumping on the right corner of a half-spike to collect the coin.
*The second coin is located at 74.3% in Mile 19, which requires hitting only the first of three blue orbs at the end of Mile 18 to fit through a spike gap with the second blue orb between them and jump over a set of spikes to collect a key, which makes a platform appear after jumping on the third step through a spike structure to reach the coin.
*The third and final coin is located at 99.4% in Mile 26, which requires performing a jump over a sawblade at the very end instead of going down.

==Gameplay==
{{VC|fXY7dO4PMsM}}

==Trivia==
*Marathon was placed at #120 on the [[Geometry Dash Demonlist|Demonlist]] on 16 November 2019, above Audio Extraction and below The Antimatter.
**This addition pushed CYCLONE into the Legacy List.
*The cube is the only game-mode in Marathon, marking the first Extreme Demon and Demonlist level to do so.
*Marathon is weoweoteo's second-hardest created level, behind Betrayal of Fate.
*Marathon took nearly three years to complete.
*The song was originally composed by 'Metea11', but it was uploaded on Newgrounds by weoweoteo under the pseudonym 'sLate10'. In August 2023, the song was taken down from Newgrounds because weoweoteo uploaded it without the original artist's permission. Eventually, the original composer uploaded the song to Newgrounds, and it has been replaced with proper credit in Update 2.2.
*Bizaare created an easier remake of Marathon called Endurance, which primarily stays true to the themes of the original level in the first half but progressively deviates later on.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw8iuSIH8gI</ref>
*ThiKn created a reimagined version of Marathon as a platformer level using the same name, verified by WillySilly on 27 April 2026.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIaNQCBsz60</ref>
*The placement of Aesthetic on 6 May 2020 pushed Marathon into the Legacy List of the Demonlist.

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Demon List levels]]