Athletics at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis took place on August 30, 1904. The race covered a distance of 24 miles and 1500 yards (40 km).

The race is famous for its poor organization and extremely harsh conditions. It was held during the hottest part of the day on dusty roads, and there were only two places for runners to get water—a water tower at the 6-mile mark and a well at the 12-mile mark. Out of 32 athletes from seven nations, only 14 finished the race.

 Background 
This was the third time the marathon was held at the Olympics. The event included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics: Len Taunyane and Jan Mashiani. Both were Tswana men who were already in St. Louis as part of the South African exhibit at the 1904 World's Fair.

Taunyane finished ninth and Mashiani finished twelfth, despite Mashiani being chased nearly a mile off the road by a dog during the race.

 The Race 
The race began at 3:00 pm in temperatures reaching 32°C (90°F). The course was not cleared of traffic, meaning runners had to avoid wagons, trains, and people. The dust from official vehicles made it difficult for runners to breathe, and one runner, William Garcia, nearly died from internal injuries caused by inhaling the dust.

Several runners had unusual experiences:
 Frederick Lorz stopped running after nine miles and rode in a car for part of the race. He entered the stadium and was nearly awarded the gold medal before officials realized he had cheated.
 Thomas Hicks won the race, but he was struggling so much that his trainers gave him doses of strychnine (a poison that acts as a stimulant in small amounts) mixed with brandy and eggs. He was hallucinating by the end and had to be carried over the finish line.
 Andarín Carvajal stopped in an orchard to eat apples. The apples were rotten, so he took a nap to recover from stomach cramps. He still finished in fourth place.

 Results 
 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time 1  Thomas Hicks    3:28:53 2  Albert Corey    3:34:52 3  Arthur Newton    3:47:33 4  Andarín Carvajal    Unknown 5  Dimitrios Veloulis    Unknown 6  David Kneeland    Unknown 7  Harry Brawley    Unknown 8  Sidney Hatch    Unknown 9  Len Taunyane    Unknown 10  Christos Zechouritis    Unknown 11  Harry Devlin    Unknown 12  Jan Mashiani    Unknown 13  John Furla    Unknown 14  Andrew Oikonomou    Unknown   Frederick Lorz    3:13:00

 References