Marathon (sport)

The word marathon refers to a long-distance road running event of 42,195 m (26 miles and 385 yards).

Distance

The length of a marathon was not originally standardized, since all that was important was that all athletes competed on the same course. The exact length of an Olympic marathon varied depending on the route established for each venue. The first and third Olympic marathons were 40 km (24.85 miles).

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The 1908 Olympic marathon in London was originally planned to cover a similar distance to previous events, but the race organizers chose to have the runners start in front of the royal nursery at Windsor Castle, over a mile from the original start pointhttp://www.olympics.org.uk/thegames/past/london08.asp. This made the distance 42.195 km (26.2 miles). Of the 6 Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, there were 6 different distances, including 2 new distances after the British games in 1908.

Related Topics:
1908 - London - Olympic games - 1900 - 1920

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A fixed distance of 42.195 km was adopted in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) as the official marathon distance.

Related Topics:
1921 - International Amateur Athletic Federation

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