According to this Wiki entry, the company's roots trace back to several small oil companies in Ohio that banded together in 1887, forming the Ohio Oil Company, which was based in Lima. It was acquired by the Standard Oil Trust, but later became independent once again (thanks to anti-trust laws) – and started expanding outside of Ohio.
Ohio Oil Company bought the Transcontinental Oil Company in 1930, also acquiring the Marathon brand name in the process. The company would change its name to Marathon Oil Company in the early 1960s. Marathon Petroleum would be spun off from Marathon Oil in 2011.
But in 1953, the Marathon name was still just a brand of gasoline, and that's what we see below in the ad that appeared in the Lorain Journal back on November 6, 1953.
It's an eye-catching ad, with its strong visual right out of Jungle Book promoting its "Cat" Gasoline. The ad copy cleverly cautions drivers that filling up with Marathon "Cat" gasoline may lead to the temptation to speed.
Of course, the most interesting thing about the ad is the old Marathon logo consisting of a scantily-clad runner.
But even then, Marathon was using its great "Best in the Long Run" slogan.
Today, the Marathon Petroleum website notes that the company operates the nation's largest refining system. Pretty impressive for a company based in Findlay, Ohio (where Old Dutch Beer was brewed for many years).