Sullivan was a chief organizer of the 1904 Summer Olympics. He decided to allow only one water station on the 24.85 mile course of the marathon even though it was conducted in heat over unpaved roads choked with dust. His ostensible reason was to conduct research on "purposeful dehydration," even though dehydration is potentially fatal. The marathon ended with the worst ratio of entrants to finishers (14 of 32) and by far the slowest winning time, 3:28:45, almost 30 minutes slower than the next slowest winning time (1900 Summer Olympics). He also organized the Anthropology Days.