Useless Fact: The 26 Mile Marathon Is Actually 26 Miles, 385 Yards The 26 Mile Marathon Is Actually 26 Miles, 385 Yards Sports Trivia The well known 26 mile marathon has actually been 26 miles, 385 yards since 1908. Before the 1908 Olympics the official marathon distance was exactly 26 miles. For the 1908 Olympics in London, England it was decided that the royal family needed a better view of the finish line. The race started at Windsor Castle and organizers added an extra 385 yards to the race so the finish line would be in front of the royal box. From that point forward the marathon distance became 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 kilometres). The International Assiciation of Athletics Federations (IAAF) adopted the distance as the "official" marathon distance in 1921. Posted: 2004-08-10 3:41:28 PM This fact has been viewed 12824 times.

2004-08-10 Why The Marathon Is Exactly 26 Miles, 385 Yards Why The Marathon Is Exactly 26 Miles, 385 Yards Tweet If you are running a marathon this fall (or already have run one), many thoughts will cross your mind during your long journey. And just one of them one just might be: Why the heck is a marathon precisely 26 miles, 385 yards (26.2 miles)? Or 42.195 kilometers for our metric friends? It’s a good question, one that beginners and veteran marathoners all over the world have wondered for more than 100 years. Why has such an odd distance become the worldwide standard? That answer is rooted in the ancient past. One might assume that the weird distance must have something to do with the Greeks who brought us the ancient Olympics. But the Greeks didn’t have any races longer than three miles in the Olympics. (Guess they didn’t have any gels and hydration fluids.) What the Greeks did have were messengers who ran long distances between cities to deliver news of the day (no internet). Oddly, these messengers were not considered great athletes.

Instead, they were mere laborers who could tirelessly run long distances. One such laborer was Pheidippides who in BC 490 was told to run to Sparta from Athens to get some help after the Persians landed at Marathon. Our boy ended up covering 150 miles in two days. Then, legend has it, the next day Pheidippides ran 24 miles from the Battle on the Plains of Marathon back to Athens to announce victory over the invading Persian army. Pheidippides supposedly yelled, “Rejoice. We conquer!” And then dropped dead. (If—by chance—you want to run the same course as our man Pheidippides, the Athens Marathon, held every October, covers the same ground.) Still, it’s open to considerable debate among scholars whether Pheidippides ever did any such run, but when Baron de Coubertin of France revived the ancient Greek Olympics in 1896, a 24-mile race from Marathon to Athens to commemorate Pheidippides’ historic run was included, That race became the highlight of the Games when another Greek– Spiridon Louis–ran 2:58:50 to win the first Olympic Marathon.

Again, it was only 24 miles back then. When the Boston Marathon was run for the first time in 1897, nobody gave any thought to following the Olympic lead as far as exact distance, so 18 guys ran about 25 miles from Ashland to downtown Boston. (Little known fact: The first actual marathon in America was in 1896 and went from Columbus Circle in Stamford, Connecticut to Columbus Circle in New York City which is about the same distance as Boston.) After Boston, the next two Olympic Marathons were held in 1900 in Paris and 1904 in St. Louis and both races were approximately 24 ½-25 miles. (By the way, the St. Louis Olympic Marathon was won by Joseph Hicks in 3:28:53—by far the slowest in Olympic history—and Hicks led a US sweep of the first three spots. Not until 1908 did the marathon distance become what we now consider the standard 26 miles, 385 yards.

These Olympics were held in London and the marathon course was to start at Windsor Castle and pass through several villages before finishing at the White City Olympic Stadium which just so happened to be a distance of 26 miles. Queen Alexandra of England planned to sit in her Royal Box at the stadium and Olympic organizers figured it would be a nice touch to have the marathoners finish the race right in front of her. One problem. Her box was on the opposite side of the tunnel from where the marathoners would enter the stadium which meant they would then have to run a half lap around the track inside the stadium to finish in front of the Queen. The distance from the tunnel to the Queen’s box just so happened to be 385 yards. Since at the time there wasn’t any standardized marathon distance, Olympic organizers decided to simply leave the 26-mile route as is and lengthen it by a mere 385 yards to 26 miles, 385 yards. After all, what’s another 385 yards? As it turned out, that additional 385 yards was a bit too far for a tiny Italian runner.

In what became the most famous marathon in Olympic history, Dorando Pietri of Italy entered the stadium as the first runner, but turned the wrong way on the track. After being turned around, Pietri collapsed on the track in the oppressive heat at the 26-mile mark with just 385 yards to go. One of the running heroes of his day, Pietri was assisted to his feet by officials (a no-no). The delirious Italian fell several more times and then was half dragged the extra distance by officials and finally staggered first across the finish line. Unfortunately for him, he was later disqualified and the gold medal went to Johnny Hayes of the United States (one of only three American men to ever win the Olympic marathon.) Pietri would have won if the course had been 26 miles. Four years later, the Olympics were in Stockholm. At the time, Scandinavian marathon courses were still about 40 kilometers in length and even though the race started and finished in the Olympic stadium, no change was made to the distance to match up with London four years earlier. Boston had changed its distance too.

In 1907, it lengthened its course from 24 miles to 26 as the start was moved a few miles west of Ashland to Hopkinton. But this was done to have a wider start and avoid some railroad tracks. Still, it wasn’t the 26 mile, 385-yard distance. The first American marathon to utilize the 26 mile, 385-yard distance was in Yonkers, New York. On New Year’s Day of 1909, the 26.2-mile marathon distance was used for the first time in America with Bob Fowler of Cambridge, Massachusetts winning in the fastest time in the world in 2:52:54. Ironically, the Olympics would not adopt the 26 mile, 385-yard distance until 1924 when the Olympics returned to Paris for the second time. (In 1920, the Olympic marathon course in Antwerp was actually too long.) But in Paris, the marathon distance was standardized as 42.195 kilometers or 26 miles, 385 yards—the exact same distance as the 1908 London Olympics.

There is no record of why the International Amateur Athletics Federation (the governing body of track and field) decided that this would be the distance for marathons all over the world. No one is exactly sure why this distance was chosen as the standard, but there appears to have been a heavy British influence on the IAAF committee which made the decision and that may explain why it reverted back to the distance of the famed 1908 Olympic Marathon of 26 miles, 385 yards. Running that extra 385 yards might not seem like much, but after covering 26 miles, it can seem like an eternity getting to the finish. It takes most tired and depleted marathoners an additional two or three minutes to cover the last 385 yards. And now you know who to blame/thank for the additional 385 yards: The Queen of England. Why Are Marathons 26.2 Miles Long? Why Are Marathons 26.2 Miles Long?

By Dan Peterson | April 19, 2010 08:09am ET MORE Running shoes may have changed the way people run, causing them to strike the ground with their heel first, a new study says. Credit: stockxpert So, you want to have a really long race that eventually will attract the best runners from around the world. Unlike other races with boring names like the "mile" and the "400 meter," with their well-defined distances, your race commemorates an ancient Greek town with an unusual route totaling somewhere around 24 to 26 miles. Well, if you're Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee and the Modern Olympics , that was exactly the plan for the marathon at the 1896 Olympics in Athens. The Olympic Games actually inspired the first Boston Marathon, which culminated on April 19, 1897. In a nod to Greek history, the first marathon commemorated the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield near the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C.

According to legend, Pheidippides ran the approximately 25 miles to announce the defeat of the Persians to some anxious Athenians. Not quite in mid-season shape, he delivered the message "Niki!" (Victory!) then keeled over and died. So, de Coubertin organized the first official race from the Marathon Bridge to Olympic Stadium in Athens, a distance of about 24.85 miles or 40,000 meters. Spiridon Louis, a Greek postal worker, won that first race in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds, finishing seven minutes ahead of the pack. Of the 25 entrants, only 9 runners hit the finish line. After 1896, the next few Olympic marathons varied in distance with the idea that as long as all runners ran the same course, there was no need to keep the distance exactly the same. For the 1908 London Olympics, the course was laid out from Windsor Castle to White City stadium, about 26 miles. However, to locate the finish line in front of the royal family's viewing box, an extra 385 yards was added inside the stadium.

Hence the marathon tradition of yelling "God save the Queen" in the last mile. Despite the success of that first race, it took 13 more years of arguing before the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) adopted the 1908 distance as the official marathon. In fact, of the first seven modern Olympics, there were six different distances. Today, there are more than 500 organized marathons in 64 countries around the world each year, with more than 425,000 marathon finishers in the United States alone. As many of these veterans will tell you, the first 26 miles are easy, its that last quarter mile that will kill you. Marathon Day | Runner's World Privacy Policy | About Us The Day Before The day before the marathon, most runners find it useful to do a short run to loosen up their muscles and help calm their nerves. Many marathoners choose to rest two days before the race, and then do a short run the day before the race. For most runners, a 3-4 mile gentle run, with a few minutes pickup within it at close to race pace, provides just enough reminder that they're fit and ready to race.

You should eat a relatively high carbohydrate diet and stay well-hydrated during the day. If your race starts early the next morning, avoid having your main meal late in the evening. For example, for an 8 a.m. marathon start, you should eat your main meal by about 7 p.m., so there's plenty of time to digest your meal and have a good night's sleep. Hydration shouldn't be a problem because you won't be training much the last few days before the race, but it's sometimes easy to forget to drink when traveling and staying in a hotel. Race Morning If the race is in the morning, you need to get up early enough to eat and digest a small meal. The amount of time required varies between runners, so it's helpful to try your pre-race meal timing in tune-up races prior to the marathon. For most runners, eating three to four hours in advance is enough time to get the benefits of a small meal without experiencing digestive distress out on the course. At a major marathon like Boston or New York, you need a plan for the several hours when you'll be hanging around near the start. Of primary importance is staying warm during this time.

If you get cold and start shivering, you'll start to use up your glycogen stores and your muscles will start to tighten up. Wearing old running clothes that you're happy to never see again, and if it's raining, fashioning a big plastic garbage bag into a rain jacket, can keep you reasonably comfortable. Try to find a place to lie down and relax to pass the time. The important thing is to stay reasonably calm, even if conditions are not ideal while you wait for the start. Some runners find that an engrossing novel or a movie on an iPod allows them to escape the moment for an hour or two and not waste energy stressing about the impending start. But don't escape so much that you fail to prepare properly for the logistical, mental and physical realities of the race. RELATED ARTICLE: Race-Day Nutrition and Hydration Warming Up Warming up for any race is important. The purpose of a warm-up is to prepare your body to run at race pace. This involves increasing your metabolic rate, your body temperature, and the circulation of blood (and thus oxygen) to your muscles. The warm-up activates your aerobic system to work optimally from the start of the race.

There's a downside, however, to warming up for the marathon. One of the challenges in the marathon is to reach the finish line before becoming glycogen depleted. This is why it's important to carbo-load before the marathon and to take in carbohydrates during the marathon to help ensure that you don't run out of carbohydrates before the finish. But during a warm-up, you burn a mixture of carbohydrates and fat, thereby slightly reducing your glycogen stores. The key, then, is to find the minimum amount of warm-up necessary to prepare your body to handle race pace as soon as the starter's gun is fired, so you save as much of your precious carbohydrate reserves as possible for the 26.2 miles ahead. The importance of the warm-up varies depending on how fast you plan to start (and hopefully finish) the race. If you'll run the first mile in under 6 minutes, then a warm-up is important to prime your cardiovascular system, to reduce your body's reliance on carbohydrates and to prepare your muscles for battle. If you plan to run the first mile slower than 9 minutes, then a 5-to 10-minute walk and stretch may be a better bet to conserve energy for the race.

For those of you in between, how much to warm up depends largely on your personal experience and preference. The optimal warm-up for the marathon depends on the level of the marathoner. For beginners, whose main goal is to finish, no warm-up is necessary. They can warm up during the first couple of miles of the race. For more serious marathoners, who will attempt to run the distance significantly faster than their normal training pace, the optimal warm-up consists of two runs of about 5 minutes each, with some gentle stretching in between. You should start warming up about 30 to 40 minutes before the start of the race. Start your first warm-up run slowly, and gradually increase your pace so that you finish at about 1 minute per mile slower than marathon race pace. Next, stretch gently for about 10 minutes, including loosening up your shoulders and neck. Follow that with another 5 minutes of running, this time gradually picking up the pace until you reach marathon pace for the final 30 seconds or so. Then stretch a bit more, and take some sips of a sports drink to top off your carbohydrate stores, but not so much that fluid is sloshing in your stomach at the start. That's it.

Try to time your warm-up so you finish no more than 10 minutes before the race starts. If you warm up too long before the race, you'll lose some of the benefits, yet will have still used up some of your carbohydrate stores. The ability to time your warm-up like this is an advantage of running a smaller marathon, as compared to a megarace, where you're more likely to be herded to your starting position long before the race begins. Before the start of the Olympic marathon, the athletes do a bit of nervous jogging around, but almost no one does more than 10 minutes of easy running, plus one or two accelerations up to race pace. This is enough of a warm-up for these runners to handle a sub-5:00 pace for the first mile. A similar routine will get you to the starting line prepared to handle your goal marathon race pace. RELATED ARTICLES: What Shoes Should You Wear in the Marathon? Your Pacing Strategy Assuming that you have a time goal for the marathon, how should you go about trying to achieve that time? Some marathoners go out hard and then try to hang on as well as possible in the second half. Others try to run an even pace throughout.

A few take it easy early on and then run the second half faster. Let's consider the physiology of the marathon and the implications for your optimal pacing strategy. Your marathon pace is very close to your lactate-threshold pace, which is determined by your oxygen consumption at your lactate threshold and your running economy. If you run faster than your lactate threshold pace, then lactate accumulates in your muscles and blood. It is believed the hydrogen ions associated with the lactate deactivate the enzymes for energy production and make you slow down. When you exceed your lactate threshold pace, you also use more glycogen, so your limited glycogen stores are depleted more quickly than necessary. These basics of marathon physiology indicate that the best strategy for the marathon is relatively even pacing. If you run much faster than your overall race pace for part of the race, then you'll use more glycogen than necessary and will likely start to accumulate lactate. If you run much slower than your overall race pace for part of the race, then you'll need to make up for this lapse by running faster than the most efficient pace for another portion of the race.

The optimal pacing strategy, then, is to run nearly even splits, taking into account the idiosyncrasies of the course you'll be running. Most runners shouldn't try to run dead-even splits, however, because during the marathon you'll gradually fatigue your slow-twitch muscle fibers and will start to recruit more of your fast-twitch A fibers to maintain your pace. Unfortunately, these fast-twitch fibers tend to be less economical than your slow-twitch fibers in their use of oxygen. Therefore, your running economy will tend to decrease slightly during the race, meaning that your lactate threshold pace will decrease slightly as well. The result is that your optimal pace will be slightly reduced during the latter stages of the marathon. For example, if your goal is to run 2:39 for the marathon, then even splits would require you to run 1:19:30 for each half of the race. To run even splits, you would have to increase your oxygen consumption and lactate level as your fatigue level increases during the second half of the race.

A more efficient pacing strategy would be to go through halfway in 1:18 to 1:19, because doing so would allow you to slow by 2 to 3 percent during the second half and still achieve your goal. If you ran negative splits for the marathon (i.e., the second half faster than the first half), chances are that you ran more slowly than optimal during the first half of the race and could have had a faster finishing time. For world-class marathoners, whose genetics and training put them on a higher plane, the optimal pacing strategy is likely a bit different. These select few are so highly trained that they have a lower tendency to recruit less-economical muscle fibers as the race progresses. In addition, they can pick up the pace over the last several miles and gradually accumulate lactate to the finish. For the best marathoners in the world, therefore, the most effective pacing strategy is to run the second half of the marathon at the same pace as, or even slightly faster than, the first half. Most of the recent world records have followed this model of slightly faster second halves.

In setting the world best of 2:03:59 at the 2008 Berlin Marathon, Haile Gebrselassie ran the first half in 62:05 and the second half in 61:54. In setting his first world record at this distance, Gebrselassie ran 2:04:26 at the 2007 Berlin Marathon, with half times of 62:29 and 61:57. Similarly, in her first world record at the 2002 Chicago Marathon, Paula Radcliffe ran 2:17:18 by running the first half in 69:03 and the second half in 68:15. When she set her current world record of 2:15:25 at the 2003 London Marathon, her first half took 68:02, and she ran the second half in 67:23.

During Kenyan Patrick Makau's 2011 Berlin Marathon, where he set the current marathon world record of 2:03:38, he went through halfway in 61:44 and ran the second half just 10 seconds slower--almost perfectly even. In examples of record-breaking elite races, typically the second half is only 15 to 60 seconds faster than the first half (1 to 4 seconds per mile), so the negative split is minimal. These examples of successful world-record attempts, in which the weather is typically close to ideal, are rare, however. Even world-class marathoners (sub-2:10 for men, sub-2:25 for women) often run the second half from 30 to 90 seconds slower than the first half.

My experience is that most marathoners in the 2:40 to 4:30 range will run optimally by gradually increasing their effort over the second half of the race in the attempt to run close to even splits, which often results in a second half from 2 to 3 percent slower than the first half (e.g., 2-3 minutes for a 3:00 to 3:20 marathoner). RELATED ARTICLES: Blending Temperance and A Killer Instinct The First Half You're finally at the starting line, warmed up and ready for the task ahead. It's all too easy to get carried away and run the first mile too fast. A better approach is to run the first mile at, or a bit slower than, your goal pace. Because you won't have done much of a warm-up before the start, your body won't be prepared to go faster than race pace. Also, if you run too fast at the beginning of the race, your body will burn off extra glycogen and start to accumulate lactate that could negatively affect the rest of your race. After the first mile is out of the way, the best strategy during the next few miles is to settle into a good rhythm.

Try to run fast but relaxed. Establishing a relaxed running style early in the race will go a long way toward helping you avoid tightening up, so you can maintain your goal pace to the finish. Go through a mental checklist periodically to make sure your shoulders are relaxed, your body is upright, your breathing is steady, you are maintaining your stride rate and any other personal cues you use to help maintain good running style throughout the race. Take a carbohydrate drink at the first aid station, or, if you're carrying your own, within the first mile or two. It's useful to take in carbs right from the start rather than waiting until you think you need them. If you wait until you feel tired and light-headed to take in carbohydrates, it will be too little too late. The longer you can postpone carbohydrate depletion, the longer you will be able to maintain your goal pace. It's also useful to drink a few ounces of fluid at each 5K aid station during the marathon to minimize dehydration, using thirst as your guide on how much, and how frequently, to drink. A few seconds lost at each aid station can translate into several minutes gained toward the end of the marathon. Mentally, the first half of the marathon is the time to cruise.

Try to save your mental and emotional energy for the second half of the race. All other factors being equal, if there's a group of runners in the lead pack at halfway, the winner will be the one who has cruised along at the back of the pack, saving his or her energy for the demands of the second half of the race. Regardless of your ultimate finishing place in the marathon, you should realize that the second half is much harder than the first half; just try to get the first half out of the way at the correct pace without using any more mental energy than necessary. To Group or Not to Group Although in most cases you should stay with your pacing plan, the weather or the tactics of other runners may merit slightly altering your strategy. If you're running into a headwind, there's a substantial advantage to running in a group of runners and letting others block the wind. Though you may need to do your share in leading the group, you'll still save considerable energy compared to running by yourself into the wind. On a windy day, therefore, you may need to run faster or slower than planned to stay with a group.

Even on a calm day, the best strategy is to deviate slightly from your goal pace, rather than running most of the way by yourself. In big-city marathons such as Boston, New York, or Chicago, being stuck by yourself isn't a problem. At almost any pace, you'll be among a number of runners, and you can work with them to reach your goal time. In a smaller marathon, however, you have a reasonably high chance of running by yourself for many miles. In that situation, you must make a judgment call as to whether to go a few seconds per mile faster or slower than planned to stay with a group. Although drafting behind other runners will give you a small energy advantage, most of the benefit of staying with a group is psychological. You don't have to set the pace, and you can relax and go along with the group. Most runners find it quite difficult mentally to run by themselves for long stretches of the marathon. So what's the trade-off between having company and having to compromise your strategy? A rule of thumb is to deviate from your goal pace by no more than 8 to 10 seconds per mile if you would otherwise be running by yourself during the first 20 miles of the race.

Running 8 to 10 seconds per mile faster than planned may not sound like much over 1 mile, but this difference in effort can put you over the edge after a couple of miles. The best way to judge whether to pick it up to latch on to a group is by how you feel at the time. If you feel as though you can handle it--you aren't accumulating fatigue, or working noticeably harder and less efficiently than at the slower pace--then go for it. If your breathing is uncomfortable and you can sense that you're working at a higher intensity than you can maintain until the finish, then relax and let the others go. The group won't carry you the whole way beyond your level of conditioning. You may find that the group will soon break up and that you'll once again have others to run with. During the final 6 miles and 385 yards, you can afford to be more independent. If no one else is running at the correct pace for you after you've passed the 20-mile mark, you need to muster the courage to go it alone.

Chances are that forging out will work well psychologically, because if you've prepared well and run a fairly even pace, you'll be passing other runners throughout the final miles. Nothing lifts the spirits quite like passing another runner late in the marathon. When you're racing a marathon in which your specific finishing place is an important consideration (e.g., the Olympic trials, or a small race where you have a chance of winning or placing high), then your pacing strategy will be somewhat determined by the actions of others in the race. If a group of 10 runners breaks away, then you'd better go after them, even if it means running faster than planned. In general, though, it's best to stick close to your race plan and your goal marathon pace. Even in these situations, physiology can't be thwarted, and often running an appropriate pace will leave you stronger at the end than runners who tried to hang with a group beyond their ability on a given day. (Recall Meb Keflezighi in Athens and London.) 13.1 to 20 Miles From the halfway mark to 20 miles is the no man's land of the marathon. You're already fairly tired and still have a long way to go.

This is where the mental discipline of training will help you maintain a strong effort and a positive attitude. It's easy to let your pace slip during this stretch--5 seconds per mile, then 10 seconds per mile, or more. By using all the available feedback on your pace--whether in the form of mile or kilometer splits or a pace watch--you'll know exactly how you're progressing, and you should be able to concentrate and maintain your goal pace during these miles. Slowing during this portion of the marathon is often more a matter of not concentrating than of not being able to physically maintain the pace. Focusing on your splits gives you an immediate goal to concentrate on. The ability to do a bit of adding in your head while running is a helpful skill and gives you a mental task to keep your mind sharp. If you're 5 seconds too slow when you calculate your split, don't try to make up the lost 5 seconds during the next mile; aim to run your goal mile pace again as your target to get yourself back on track. By focusing on these incremental goals along the way, you'll prevent a large drift in your pace and should be able to stay very close to your goal.

It's not unusual to have a few miles when you just don't feel good. These bad patches are a test of mental resolve. Often these stretches will last a while and then mysteriously go away. For example, you might feel tight and uncomfortable from miles 15 to 17, but then get back in the groove again and feel good to the finish. The key is to have the confidence that you'll eventually overcome this bad patch. I learned this lesson during the 1983 San Francisco Marathon. After working quite hard from 13 to 16 miles, I had a stretch of about 3 miles when my breathing felt out of sync, and I struggled to stay with the other two leaders. I kept telling myself to relax and that the other guys might be hurting, too. Fortunately, I settled back into a comfortable rhythm by 19 miles, felt strong enough to drop the other two runners by the 20-mile mark, and cruised home to victory. If I had let myself think negatively during the bad patch and let the other two runners get away, I wouldn't have won that race. Taking in carbohydrates every 5K during the second half of the race can help you maintain your mental focus.

The only fuel for your brain is glucose (carbohydrate), and when you become carbohydrate-depleted, the amount of glucose reaching the brain starts to decrease. If you've carbo-loaded, this shouldn't start to affect you until well past the 20-mile mark. Taking in carbohydrates during the race, and particularly between miles 13 and 20, however, will help ensure that you stay alert and think clearly throughout the race. The Final 6 Miles and 385 Yards Having made it to 20 miles, you're at the most rewarding stage of the marathon. This is the part that you've prepared for during your long months of training. This is when your long runs, during which you worked hard over the last stages, will really pay off. Until now, everything required the patience to hold back. Now, you're free to see what you've got. During this final 10K, you get to dig deep and use up any energy that you have left. This is what the marathon is all about. This is the stretch that poorly prepared marathoners fear and well-prepared marathoners relish.

The key from 20 miles to the finish is to push as hard as you can without having disaster strike in the form of a cramp or muscles so tight you lose your stride effectiveness. You will have prepared yourself for this during your long runs, your marathon-pace runs, and, to a lesser extent, your tempo runs. You need to use your body's feedback to determine just how hard you can push. Chances are, by now your calf muscles, hamstrings, quads or some combination of these are on edge and will limit how fast you can go. You need to test the waters a bit and push to what you perceive to be the limit that your muscles will tolerate. Try to pick it up a bit and see how your muscles react. There's a risk that in trying to increase your pace you'll end up with a cramp, so the safe option is to just try to maintain to the finish. But competitive marathoners will take the risk to get a slightly faster finishing time. The more marathons you run, the more you'll know your body's reaction to these stresses and how hard you can push your muscles. You can take progressively greater risks as the finish line nears.

Although figuring out "how many miles to go" can be daunting early on in the marathon, in this final stage it can be comforting and help keep you focused. As the finish approaches, telling yourself, "Less than 3 miles to go," or "Just 15 minutes more," can be motivating. If you're struggling a bit toward the end, picture yourself finishing a run on your favorite training loop so the remaining distance seems more manageable. If you've been drinking according to your thirst and taking in carbohydrates throughout the race, your muscles should be able to maintain the pace to the finish line. Continue drinking until the last few miles. Keeping up your blood sugar level will help you stay alert so you can concentrate well to the end. When you see the finish line approaching, give a little more effort so that you run strongly over the line--but not so much that you cramp and have to stop within sight of the line and limp across. Show yourself that you have mastered the marathon and are able to kick it in a bit to the finish. Then enjoy the fruits of your labor. Why is a marathon 26.2 miles?

- Ask History Ask History October 29, 2014 By Elizabeth Nix Share this: Why is a marathon 26.2 miles? Author Why is a marathon 26.2 miles? URL Google The marathon may have ancient roots, but the foot race’s official length of 26.2 miles wasn’t established until the 20th century. The first organized marathon was held in Athens at the 1896 Olympics, the start of the Games’ modern era. The ancient games, which took place in Greece from around 776 B.C. to A.D. 393, never included such long-distance races. The idea for the modern marathon was inspired by the legend of an ancient Greek messenger who raced from the site of Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 40 kilometers, or nearly 25 miles, with the news of an important Greek victory over an invading army of Persians in 490 B.C. After making his announcement, the exhausted messenger collapsed and died. To commemorate his dramatic run, the distance of the 1896 Olympic marathon was set at 40 kilometers.

For the next few Olympics, the length of the marathon remained close to 25 miles, but at the 1908 Games in London the course was extended, allegedly to accommodate the British royal family. As the story goes, Queen Alexandra requested that the race start on the lawn of Windsor Castle (so the littlest royals could watch from the window of their nursery, according to some accounts) and finish in front of the royal box at the Olympic stadium—a distance that happened to be 26.2 miles (26 miles and 385 yards). The random boost in mileage ending up sticking, and in 1921 the length for a marathon was formally standardized at 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers). Today, marathon races take place everywhere from the North Pole to the Great Wall of China. In America alone, there are now more than 1,100 marathons each year. For decades, marathons were only open to male athletes.

The Boston Marathon, which kicked off in 1897 and is the world’s oldest annual marathon, began allowing female competitors in 1972, while the first Olympic marathon for women wasn’t held until 1984. In 1976, an estimated 25,000 runners finished marathons in the United States; by 2013, the estimated number of competitors who completed a 26.2-mile course had soared to 541,000. Tags The Great Marathon Boom of 100 Years Ago Tweet The Great Marathon Boom of 100 Years Ago With just about every major city in the United States hosting a marathon, this era could be classified as the second great marathon boom. Did you know the first one took place 100 years ago? By Don Allison Posted Monday, 19 May, 2008 The New York City Marathon, at least in its current incarnation, began in 1970 when 127 runners circled four loops of Central Park, generating little interest among others visiting the park that day.

Although many have marked that as the beginning of what is known today as the ING New York Marathon, it was hardly the first 26.2-mile race held in the metropolitan area. In fact, 100 years ago this year the first marathon running “boom” took place, for both participants and spectators, who numbered in the tens of thousands. Amazingly however, the first New York “marathon” was held not in the 21st, or even the 20th century, but late in the 19th century, even before the first Boston Marathon. After the first modern Olympic Games in Athens Greece in 1896, a group of American travelers, inspired by the 40-kilomoter marathon run that proved to the centerpiece of the Games, held their own “marathon” race back in the U.S. The route took the runners from Stamford, Connecticut to New York City, some 25 miles over muddy dirt roads. John McDermott won the race in 3:25; he would go on to win the inaugural running of another new marathon the next year, held in Boston and sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association.

The early 20th century culture of New York City A decade would pass before marathon running returned to New York, when the Mercury Athletic Club staged an event in Yonkers, the northernmost of the five boroughs. During that period, the culture of New York City was undergoing a tremendous change. Immigrants were arriving at Ellis Island by the hundreds of thousands, and many of them remained in New York City. Not surprisingly, the majority of the new immigrants lived in abject poverty, enduring misery on a daily basis. At the same time, political corruption was rampant, the city ruled by Tammany Hall. Still, there was reason for optimism. Bridges were being built to link the island with neighboring boroughs, and impressive new buildings punctuated the Manhattan skyline. A new theater district replaced rundown Longacre Square, and was christened in 1904 as Times Square, after the famed newspaper that built it. Perhaps the greatest testament to growth however, was a new subway system that was well on its way to being completed. The master plan projected tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers, electric tracks, signals and switches, a power plant in Long Island City, sprawling train yards, and the world's largest railroad-arch bridge.

The center of it all would be massive Pennsylvania Station in midtown Manhattan, recalling the ornate Roman architecture. Against this backdrop of cultural change, many New Yorkers sought creative outlets. Along with the new theater district, movie-going grew greatly in popularity. Added together, there were more than 150,000 movie seats in New York City by the end of the decade. Thus, it was not surprising that the marathon captured the imagination of sports enthusiasts, offering yet another setting for drama and passion. As the Yonkers Marathon was initiated in 1907 however, the challenges would be many in marathon distance races—for the runners, race officials, and even police. The 1907 race was held mostly without incident, aside from the fact that only 19 of 42 starters were able to complete the distance. Still, the finishing rate was improved over the 1896 race from Stamford. The winner was a teenage construction worker named Johnny Hayes, who recorded a time of 2:44:45, nearly 14 minutes clear of the field.

The race was a precursor to the marathon in the 1908 Olympic Games in London, which would change the sport forever, and in which Hayes would play a key role. Hayes and Dorando make history in the 1908 Olympic Marathon The man with whom Hayes would be paired through history was Italian Dorando Pietri, and the event that would bind them was that 1908 Olympic Marathon in London. The race is remembered both for its dramatic finish and that is was the place where the now standard distance of 26 miles, 385 yards was established for the marathon—for no better reason than that happened to be how far the race would have to travel for the Queen to view the start at Windsor Castle (thus the extra mile) and for she and others in the royal spectator's box to witness the finish (thus, the extra 385 yards). Many future “marathons” would fall short of this distance, but over time the odd distance would be recognized and run as the worldwide standard.

The start of the 1908 Olympic Marathon at Windsor Castle Adding to the drama of the 1908 Olympic marathon was an undercurrent of bad feelings between the U.S.A and the English hosts. The Americans sent a strong track and field team to London, but it was believed by most that while the U.S. would excel in the sprints and field events, the Brits would dominate the long distances, including the marathon. The Americans were not so willing to cede athletic superiority to their rival across the ocean, however. The U.S. team was primarily comprised of the strong Irish American Track Club, including coach James Sullivan and several athletes. The club immediately fanned the flames of discontent. As recounted on the web site thewildgeese.com:“When the delegations marched past King Edward VII’s box in the parade of nations during the opening ceremonies, the flag bearer (traditionally) dipped their national flag. The flag bearer for the U.S. delegation was Irish-born Martin Sheridan. As he marched past he refused to dip the Stars and Stripes to the King. ‘This flag dips to no earthly king,’ Sheridan said.

Sheridan did more than make a statement for that day; he began a tradition that has continued, as the Stars and Stripes has bowed to no member of royalty in any parade since.” New York newspapers added fuel to the feud in its coverage of the Games, in which the nationality of each of the winners was identified and tallied in a chart of scores, published daily throughout the Games. This controversial record-keeping in Olympic competition continues to this day. Despite the supposed edge the British runners had in the marathon, it was an Italian shopkeeper named Dorando Pietri who took control of the race, establishing a seemingly insurmountable lead as the finish approached at Great White Stadium. Well back of Dorando, Johnny Hayes appeared to be en route to a second-place finish, ahead of South African Charles Hefferon. But as many have learned about the marathon through painful personal experience, it is those final few miles, and sometimes even the final two-tenths of a mile, that can crush even the strongest-willed runners. So it was to be for Dorando. As he entered the stadium for the final laps to the finish line, he staggered and turned in the wrong direction.

With assistance from two race officials, the diminutive Italian was helped and turned in the proper direction toward the finish. He fell three times and arose each time, but not without help from two officials. Crossing the finish line first in 2:54:46, it had taken Dorando nearly 10 minutes to cover the final quarter-mile. A fresh Johnny Hayes arrived at the finish just 30 seconds later. Olympic officials initially awarded Dorando the gold medal, even raising the Italian flag, before U.S. officials lodged a protest. Hayes was eventually named the victor, but Dorando did not leave London unrewarded: Queen Alexandra awarded him a silver-plated gold cup for his efforts. Surely the disappointing results by the British marathon squad, in which their top finisher placed a distant 12th (behind four Americans) led to the hosts’ heartfelt support for Dorando Pietri. As if there were not enough drama and passion attached to this historic event, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the world-famous author of Sherlock Holmes fame, had been commissioned by Lord Northcliffe to write a special report of the race. His report in the Daily Mail describes Dorando at the finish: “. .

.Then again he collapsed, kind hands saving him from a heavy fall. He was within a few yards of my seat. Amid stooping figures and grasping bands I caught a glimpse of the haggard, yellow face, the glazed, expressionless eyes, the lank black hair streaked across the brow…It is horrible, and yet fascinating, this struggle between a set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame.” So moved was Doyle by what he had witnessed, he set about a fundraising campaign for the defeated Dorando. He wrote: ”I am sure that no petty personal recompense can in the least console Dorando for the national loss which follows from his disqualification. Yet I am certain that many who saw his splendid effort in the Stadium, an effort which ran him within an inch of his life, would like to feel that be carries away some souvenir from his admirers in England. I should be very glad to contribute five pounds to such a fund if any of the authorities at the Stadium would consent to organise it.” A sum of 300 pounds was raised for the Italian, without regard for his amateur status. Such was the worldwide interest and compassion for Dorando; he would become an international celebrity.

After Dorando’s marathon, the founder of the modern Olympics, Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin, issued one of the most historic sporting quotes of the 20th century when he said, “Last Sunday during the sermon at St. Paul’s in honour of the athletes, the Bishop of Pennsylvania made the point that ‘the important thing in these Olympics is not so much winning as taking part. The important thing in life is not the victory but the battle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have been a good loser.’ Dorando was nothing if not a good loser—at the very least he was one of the most honored and feted losers in Olympic history.” Next: Johnny Hayes returns to New York City and incites a marathon running frenzy This article is an excerpt from Don Allison’s upcoming book, Magic in the Streets: How the 1976 New York Marathon Changed Running. For more information, contact don-allison@comcast.net 26 Miles, 385 Yards : Blog Of The Nation : NPR 26 Miles, 385 Yards April 21, 20081:57 PM ET David Gura Embed Embed Earlier today.

maple's mama hide caption toggle caption 1. You can participate in, or watch, reenactments of important battles from the Revolutionary War (Concord and Lexington). 2. You can festoon your front door with bright flags and buntings 3. You can stand on a Boston sidewalk, holding orange slices and bottles of water, to cheer for endurance athletes. My brother, an avid runner, is celebrating his second Patriots' Day today. He drove across Massachusetts, from Williamstown to Newton, to watch Robert Cheruiyot, Dire Tune, and some 25,000 other marathoners amble up Heartbreak Hill . It wasn't as competitive as usual this year, he told me. (The London Marathon was last week, and America's best female marathoners ran yesterday, hoping to qualify for the Olympics .) But the streets were lined with spectators. On today's program, we're going to talk about the marathon. Who runs them? Why do they do it? (I've asked myself this question over and over again.) And what's the best way to train for one? Marathoners John Bingham and Gabriel Sherman will join us to answer these questions, and field yours.

Article continues after sponsorship The marathon has become a badge of athleticism for hundreds of thousands.... Should it be? If you've run one, we'd love to hear your story.

Question: Aside from an extra 385 yards, how many miles is a marathon race?
Answer: 26