The inspiration for the very first marathon was a soldier named Pheidippides who ran from a battlefield near the town of Marathon, Greece (hence the name) to Athens in 490 B.C. According to tradition, Pheidippides raced nearly 25 kilometers to inform some frightened Athenians of the Persians’ loss. He managed to say one word, “Niki!” (Victory!), before collapsing and dying.
The first modern marathon
De Coubertin, the creator of the International Olympic Committee and the Modern Olympics, arranged the first official race between the Marathon Bridge and the Athens Olympic Stadium, a distance of about 24.85 miles or 40,000 meters. Spiridon Louis, a Greek postal worker, won the first race in 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 50 seconds, finishing seven minutes ahead of the field. Only nine of the twenty-five racers crossed the finish line.
What does the queen have to do with it?
Following 1896, the subsequent Olympic marathons varied in length, with the rationale being that as long as all participants raced the same route, there was no need to keep the distance constant. The track for the 1908 London Olympics was planned out from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, a distance of about 26 miles. However, an additional 385 yards were added within the stadium to place the finish line in front of the royal family’s viewing box. As a result, the marathon custom of shouting “God save the Queen” at the last mile has persisted.
Setting some standards
Despite the popularity of that inaugural race, it took the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) another 13 years of debate before the 1908 distance was recognized as the official marathon. Indeed, six distinct distances were used in the first seven modern Olympics.
Today, over 500 organized marathons take place annually in 64 countries, with over 425,000 marathon finishers in the United States alone. As many of these veterans can attest, the first 26 miles are rather simple; it is the last quarter mile that is the killer.