Sizing Up 2016: Who Will Make The U.S. Olympic Marathon Teams? | Competitor.com Sizing Up 2016: Who Will Make The U.S. Olympic Marathon Teams? By Competitor.com , Published Aug. 13, 2014, Updated Aug. 13, 2015 at 4:45 PM UTC [Updated: August 13, 2015] The 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon races in Los Angeles are only 6 months away—Feb. 13, 2016. All six members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon team—Meb Keflezighi, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman; Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden and Kara Goucher—are all hoping to repeat their top-3 performances from the 2012 Trials in Houston and earn a spot at the 2016 Games in Rio. Over the past three years, however, a new class of potential contenders has emerged and could shake up the scope of American marathoning as we know it.

Here’s a quick glance at who some of the top men’s and women’s contenders might be next February, based on recent results, PRs and other considerations. RELATED: View Larger Image Shalane Flanagan Flanagan is a two-time Olympian and a bronze medalist in the 10,000 from the 2008 Olympics. She made a run at Deena Kastor's American record at the Berlin Marathon last September but fell a bit short, clocking a PR of 2:21:14 while finishing third. She followed that up with a disappointing ninth place finish at Boston, running 2:27:47 (the second American behind Desiree Linden) Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Desiree Linden Healthy again, Linden—who made the Olympic team in 2012 with a runner-up finish at the Olympic Trials—ran 2:25:39 to finish fourth at Boston in April and 2:28:11 to finish fifth at New York last November. She was the top American finisher in both races. Photo: PhotoRun.net.

View Larger Image Amy Cragg A 2012 Olympian in the 10,000-meter run, she owns a 2:27:03 PR. She dominated the 2014 U.S. 10K road championship last July 4 at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, winning by 12 seconds in 32:16. She tied her marathon PR at the Chicago Marathon last October in a time of 2:27:03. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Kara Goucher Goucher is 22 months removed from a sixth-place, 2:28:11 effort at Boston in 2013. She's been invigorated by a move back to Boulder, new sponsors and a reunion with her former coaches, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs. She had a tough go at last fall's NYC Marathon, finishing 14th in 2:37:03.

Photo: Scott Draper | Competitor View Larger Image Annie Bersagel She’s PR’ed by leaps and bounds in the half marathon (1:10:10) and marathon (2:28:59) in 2014, including a win at the Dusseldorf Marathon in April. She won the 2013 U.S. marathon championships in 2:30:53 and finished 10th at last November's NYC Marathon, running 2:33:02. At the 2015 U.S. half-marathon championships, she was fifth in 1:10:58. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Serena Burla This cancer survivor and mom ran a 2:28:01 PR in Amsterdam in 2013 and won the 2014 U.S. half-marathon championships in January in Houston. She was seventh at the 2015 Houston Marathon, running 2:31:46. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Adriana Nelson A native of Romania who became a U.S.

citizen in 2010, she won the 2013 U.S. half-marathon championships (1:11:19) and ran a 2:38:47 at the 2015 Boston Marathon, the third American to cross. She owns a 2:28:52 PR from the 2008 London Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Kellyn Taylor Taylor made her marathon debut a memorable one, popping a 2:28:40 at the Houston Marathon in January. She followed that up with an impressive 8th place finish at the U.S. cross-country championships three weeks later. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Esther Erb Erb won the U.S. marathon championship last October at the Twin Cities Marathon in 2:34:01, was the second-fastest time of her career—not too far off her PR of 2:33:15, set while finishing 20th at the 2014 Boston Marathon.

View Larger Image Renee Metivier Baille Baille had a smash marathon debut in 2012, when she ran 2:27:17 in Chicago. She was 20th in the 2014 U.S. half marathon championships (1:14:55), and has loads of speed to draw from her track and cross country racing days. She finished fourth at CIM last December in 2:34:17. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Lauren Kleppin This former NCAA Division II collegiate star dropped almost 14 minutes off her PR in her second marathon with a 2:28:48 effort in L.A. last March. She was 15th last November at New York, running 2:39:13. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Sara Hall Hall struggled in her 26.2-mile debut at the LA Marathon in March, but she recently finished fourth at the U.S. half-marathon championships in 1:10:50 and fifth at the 2015 U.S. cross-country championships.

Los Angeles aside, she's raced well in championship style races and has been on a tear on the roads over the past two years. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Clara Santucci Santucci has come on strong over the past three years, finishing seventh at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials (2:30:46) and then turning in a 2:31:39 at Chicago in 2013. She was fifth in the 2014 U.S. half marathon championships in 1:12:58. She won last year's Pittsburgh Marathon in 2:32:25. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Laura Portis Portis had a breakthrough race at the 2013 U.S. marathon championships, finishing second in a PR of 2:33:46. She didn't fare quite as well in Boston, however, finishing 27th in 2:38:48. At Chicago last October, she finished 14th in 2:38:06.

Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Brianne Nelson The Colorado-based Nelson is building momentum at the right time. She finished second at the 2015 U.S. half-marathion championships in a personal best 1:10:16, and last fall she clocked a 2:34:24 personal best at the Twin Cities Marathon. Photo: Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Caitlin Comfort Comfort is a bit of a wild card. She's young and hasn't run a marathon yet, but she placed third in a competitive field at the 2014 U.S. half marathon championships in 1:12:16, so she appears to have plenty of upside. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Janet Cherobon-Bawcom A native of Kenya and longtime U.S. resident who became a citizen in 2011, Bawcom ran a 2:29:45 marathon en route to finishing fifth at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. She made the U.S. Olympic team in the 10,000 on the track and placed 12th in the finals in London.

In 2014, she broke the U.S. 10-mile record at Cherry Blossom, running 52:12, and also finished second at the U.S. 15K championships (49:25). So far in 2015, she's got a 1:10:46, third-place finish at the U.S. half-marathon championships under her belt. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Becky Wade After a tough 2014 racing campaign full of injury and illness, Wade ran 1:12:18 to finish just outside the top-10 at the recent U.S. half-marathon championships. In 2013, she won her debut marathon at CIM, running an impressive 2:30:41. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Deena Kastor It wouldn't be fair (or smart) to list a lot of Olympic hopefuls without including Kastor, the 2004 bronze medalist in the Olympic marathon and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials champion.

Although she placed sixth at the 2012 U.S Olympic Trials Marathon, she's still among the top 10 marathoners in the U.S. She's almost two years removed from a 2:32:39 effort at the LA Marathon but in 2014 she set several U.S. 40-44 age-group records, including a Masters world record of 1:09:36 in the half marathon. She finished 11th at last November's NYC Marathon, running 2:33:16. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Meb Keflezighi It's hard to doubt the 2014 Boston Marathon champion, even if he’ll be 40 at the time of the trials race. He won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, placed fourth in the 2012 Olympics, won the 2009 New York City Marathon and earned the silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics. At last November's NYC Marathon he was the top American finisher in fourth, running 2:13:18 on a windy day.

He went on to finish eighth at the 2015 Boston Marathon in 2:12:42. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Dathan Ritzenhein Ritz is great when he’s not hurt. The 2015 Boston Marathon is proof—his 2:11:20 was good enough for seventh and top American honors. Can he keep it up—and stay healthy—into 2016? Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Abdi Abdirahman He’s eight years removed from his 2:08:56 PR, but he has said he’d like to try for a fifth U.S. Olympic team at age 39. He made the 2012 team in the marathon with a third-place finish at the trials in Houston. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Jeffrey Eggleston Eggleston, who made the U.S. team that competed at the 2013 World Championships in Russia, has consistently lowered his PR, including 2:11:57 at Boston last April and 2:10:52 at Australia’s Gold Coast Marathon in July.

He was seventh at the 2015 U.S. half-marathon championships, running 1:02:41. He then placed 12th at the Boston Marathon in 2:14:17. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Nick Arciniaga Arciniaga has run under 2:12 three of the past four years and owns a 2:11:30 PR. He was the 2013 U.S. marathon champion (2:13:11) and placed sixth at Boston in 2014 in 2:11:47. He was tenth at the NYC Marathon in November, running 2:15:39, and followed it up by placing 14th at Boston in April, clocking a 2:18:02. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Ryan Hall Hall is a two-time Olympic marathoner with mulltiple sub-2:07 efforts to his credit, but he hasn’t run a fast marathon since placing second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

However, he ran a 1:02 half marathon last June. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Ryan Vail Vail quietly ran a 2:10:57 PR in London last year, which put him at No. 3 on the U.S. list for 2014. He finished the year with a 9th place finish at the 2014 NYC Marathon. He's also dropped his PRs at 10K and half marathon within the last year and most recently finished fourth at the 2015 U.S. cross-country championships. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Josphat Boit Boit, a native of Kenya who ran track for the University of Arkansas, has come on strong since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2012. Just four months after taking second at the 2013 U.S. marathon championships in 2:13:14, he finished third in the 2014 U.S. half marathon championships with a PR of 1:01:41.

Then he lowered his marathon PR to 2:12:52 with a 10th-place showing at Boston last year. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Fernando Cabada Cabada ran a 2:11:36 personal best last fall in Berlin and clocked a 2:11:53 at the 2012 trials race in Houston where he finished seventh. A three-time national road racing champion, Cabada also sports a 1:02 half-marathon PB. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Shadrack Biwott Biwott, a former University of Oregon runner, has seven top-three finishes at U.S. road racing championships in the past 24 months, including a runner-up finish at the U.S. 25K championships last May. He was third in the 2013 U.S. marathon championship in a then PR of 2:13:26. He lowered his personal best last fall in Frankfurt, running 2:12:55. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Jared Ward Ward has had lots of success in Los Angeles. He won the U.S.

marathon championships at the LA Marathon in March, clocking a 2:12:56. He also turned a lot of heads at the U.S. half-marathon championships in January with his runner-up finish in 1:01:42. The former BYU runner also ran a 2:14:00 last fall at the Twin Cities Marathon. View Larger Image Aaron Braun Braun ran 2:12:54 earlier this year in Houston, chopping seven minutes off his previous personal best. Braun has some serious short distance speed, with personal bests of 27:41 for 10K and 1:01: 38 for half marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Ian Burrell Burrell ran a 2:13:26 PR at the Houston Marathon last year in his second effort at 26.2 miles and owns a 1:02:51 half marathon best.

Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Matt Tegenkamp Tegenkamp had a solid career on the track, including an American record 8:07:07 for 2 miles, 12:58 for 5,000 meters and 27:28 for 10,000 meters. He also scored a fourth-place finish at the 5,000 at the 2007 world championships. He ran a 2:12:28 in his marathon debut in Chicago in 2013 and lowered his half marathon PR to 1:02:05 in New York City last spring. He's also won two straight U.S. 20K titles. In April, he placed 11th at the Boston Marathon in 2:13:52. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Craig Leon Leon ran a 2:13:52 at his debut marathon at Chicago in 2013 and then turned in a respectable 11th-place, 2:14:28 effort at the 2014 Boston Marathon.

He was 9th at the 2015 Houston Marathon in 2:14:43. Leon just finished 5th in the marathon at the Pan-Am Games, running 2:19:26. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Tyler Pennel Pennel impressed in his marathon debut last October at Twin Cities, winning in 2:13:32 to capture the U.S. title. In that race he ran an impressive 1:05:44 for the second the second half. He's also got a 1:01:44 half-marathon PR on his resume, set at the 2014 U.S. championships in Houston. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Brett Gotcher When Gotcher debuted with a 2:10:36 effort at the 2010 Houston Marathon, it looked like he might be the next top U.S. marathoner to emerge. He ran 2:11:06 to finish fifth at the 2012 U.S.

Olympic Trials Marathon, but bad luck and injuries have kept him from running in the 2:08-2:09 range. He placed 17th at Boston last year (eighth among Americans) in 2:17:16. He was 8th at the 2015 U.S. half-marathon championships, running 1:02:49. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Christo Landry Landry went on a tear in 2014, winning the U.S. 10K championships and the U.S. 25K championships while also placing fourth in the U.S. 15K championships. He's only run three marathons, but one of them was a fifth-place, 2:14:44 showing at the 2013 U.S. marathon championships. He was second at last fall's U.S. 20K championships and ran 2:14:30 at Chicago In October to finish 13th. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Gabe Proctor Proctor is young, but he's got a serious set of wheels.

The ASICS Mammoth Track Club athlete ran a solid 2:13:45 debut at Chicago last fall and also has a 1:01:40 half-marathon PR to his credit. He was 10th at the 2015 U.S. half-marathon championships in February. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Bobby Curtis Curtis was the top American finisher at last October's Chicago Marathon, running a personal best 2:11:20 and he has the short-distance speed to match almost anyone in America with personal bests of 13:18 for 5000m and 27:24 for 10,000m. The Hansons-Brooks squad has had great success at past Olympic Trials and Curtis is the top horse in their 2016 stable. Photo: PhotoRun.net View Larger Image Jake Riley The 26-year-old Riley impressed in his marathon debut last fall in Chicago, running 2:13:16 to finish 11th. He's also got a 1:02:56 half-marathon best set at the NYC Half last March and raced well at the U.S.

10K road championships in July, placing fifth. Hal Higdon Training Programs Hal Higdon Training Programs Marathon Training Guide - Marathon Recovery Post Marathon Generally, it takes a minimum of two to three weeks for the body to recover from the strain of running 26 miles 385 yards. Return too quickly and you increase your risk of injury. Some experts suggest resting one day for every mile you run in the marathon, thus 26 days of no hard running or racing! Others suggest one day for every kilometer, thus 42 days rest. Well, that might be waiting too long before resuming tough training. Often the determining factor is not how quickly your body recovers, but how quickly your mind recovers, since you temporarily will have lost your main training goal. Olympic champion Frank Shorter says: "You’re not ready to run another marathon until you’ve forgotten the last one." The training you do in the three weeks following a marathon should be a near mirror of what you did the last three weeks before: in other words, an upward, or reverse, taper. Your eating after also should mirror your eating before, since a diet high in carbohydrates can help refuel your muscles as well as fuel them.

Here is what to do during Zero Week, the week after your marathon.(To purchase an interactive version of my Post-Marathon Training Guide, where I send you emails daily telling you what to run for the four weeks after that, click here .) Zero Week Sunday: Recovery begins the minute you step into the finishing chute. Keep moving and start drinking, preferably a replacement drink such as Gatorade. Research suggests that refueling works best if done immediately after exercise, when the body is eager to absorb energy. As soon as your stomach can tolerate food, start eating. Most marathons provide bananas, yogurt and other easily digested high-carbohydrate foods. These are good for you. A long walk to your car or hotel room won’t hurt you. After that, get off your feet and rest an hour or two. By then, you should be ready for more solid food. It too should be high in carbohydrates. (For a more detailed discussion on post-marathon recovery, read Chapter 18, "Mile 27" in my book: Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. Monday: Assuming you followed one of my 18-week training programs, Monday was always a day of rest to help your body recuperate from weekend workouts.

The same principle applies. No running today! No exercise of any kind! Take it easy. Tuesday: No running! Today’s a good day for a massage. (Schedule one before the marathon.) Although getting a quick rubdown at the finish-line massage tent may have felt good, a massage 24 to 48 hours after the marathon works best. If you have any post-race blisters, or foot problems, have a podiatrist treat them. Wednesday: No running! And don’t substitute cross-training in a mistaken belief that it will help you maintain fitness. You may be able to swim or cycle more easily than run because you’ll be using somewhat different muscles, but you still need rest-rest-rest to allow all your muscles to recover. Starting to train too soon can delay that recovery. You earned this period of rest. Take it! Thursday: Okay, you’re cleared to run again, but don’t overdo it. The Thursday workout for Novice runners the week before the marathon (Week 18 in my program) was 2 miles of gentle jogging. That sounds about right for Zero Week too. Intermediate and advanced runners might do a bit more, but see how your body feels.

Friday: Now is the time to cross-train. Swim or bike if that is your pleasure, but it’s probably not a good idea to start some new exercise you haven’t been doing the previous 18 weeks. The best cross-training discipline for a recovering marathoner is simple walking. Don’t underestimate the value of this activity. Go at most 2-3 miles. Saturday: By now, most of the muscle soreness should be gone. You’re probably ready to resume your regular training routine, but don’t rush things. Stick with the 2- to 3-mile routine today. Or maybe take today off entirely. Sunday: Quite often marathoners who did their long runs together in the months leading up to a marathon like to get together to rehash how they did. So call your friends and schedule a run of about an hour, 6 to 8 miles max. But don’t get competitive and push the pace too hard. Your body may feel better again, but it’s still in recovery mode. Now that you’re through Zero Week, where do you go from here? Below are three 4-week recovery programs to get you back up to speed: one for novice, one for intermediate and one for advanced runners.

I’ve included a race at the end of the tunnel to help you with motivation. After that, you’re free to pick your next training or racing goal. Half Marathon Recovery: Running 13.1 miles generally does not tear down the body as much as does running 26.2 miles--even for novice runners. There is something about crossing the 20-miler barrier, often referred to as "The Wall," that tears us apart. Even if you are well-trained and cruise past The Wall, you will drain your muscles of all the glycogen your stored as fuel during your pre-race carbo-loading. But in a half marathon, you stop far short of The Wall. A few days of rest or easy jogging, and you should be able to resume training. In fact, most of my 18-week marathon training programs include a test half marathon around Week 8 or Week 9, and even most novices survive that test without problems. To purchase an interactive version of Hal Higdon's Post-Marathon Training Programs, click here . Post Marathon Training: Novice 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 Ancient Olympics FAQ 10 When did the ancient games begin and when did they end? Where did the marathon come from? The marathon was never one of the ancient Olympic events, although its origin dates back to another episode in ancient Greek history. In the 5th century B.C., the Persians invaded Greece, landing at Marathon, a small town about 26 miles from the city of Athens. The Athenian army was seriously outnumbered by the Persian army, so the Athenians sent messengers to cities all over Greece asking for help.

Map of the southern Greek mainland The traditional origin of the marathon comes from the story how a herald named Phidippides ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory and died on the spot. Phidippides was sent by the Athenians to Sparta to ask for help; a man named Eukles announced the victory to the Athenians and then died. Later sources confused the story of Phidippides, also called "Philippides," with that of Eukles. Although most ancient authors do not support this legend, the story has persisted and is the basis for the modern-day marathon. Philadelphia MS739 Main panel: runner on right Photograph by Maria Daniels, courtesy of The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology The modern Olympic marathon is approximately 26 miles and usually takes over 2 hours for athletes to finish. To read more about these topics, see Further Resources . This exhibit is a subset of materials from the Perseus Project database and is copyrighted . Please send us your comments . Why is the marathon distance set to 42.195 km? Why is the marathon distance set to 42.195 km?

February 13, 2009 20:09 History The official distance for a marathon is 42.195 km. But why is it so? Credit : Martineric Most of the non marathon runners I ask the question answer that this weird number must be due to the conversion from imperial units to the metric system (or the other way round). It is not. The distance in miles is 26 miles and 385 yards, commonly rounded to 26.2. So why was this distance chosen? Let’s get back to the origins of the marathon race. The origin of the marathon In the year 490 B.C., Miltiade a Greek general from Athens inflicted a serious defeat on the Persians in the plains of Marathon, a small village in the northwest of Athens. In order the convey the news of the victory, a Greek soldier, Phidippides, ran at a stretch from the battlefield to Athens. After delivering the news, he collapsed and died. What distance did he actually run? We certainly don’t know the exact distance, because we don’t know the route he followed. I made a little test.

I went to the Google maps web site and asked for the direction from Marathon to Athens.With the modern road system, the distance is 42.3 km. Isn’t that amazing? But most historians assume that the distance ran by Phidippides was around 40 km. Modern marathon As legendary and fictitious as this story seems, it lead to the creation of the modern marathon race. When Pierre de Coubertin gave birth to the modern Olympic games, the first marathon was set to 40 kilometers. But during the early Olympic games, the distance of the marathon varied a lot. It went from 40 km to 42.75. City 42.195 26.22 The definitive distance for the marathon race was determined in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). The distance chosen was the one ran in London in 1908 : 26 miles 385 yards or 42.195 km. The london race in 1908 It is commonly said that the distance was set to 26 miles 385 yards because of the Royal family.

During the preparation of the summer Olympiads, it had been agreed that the organizers would include a marathon of about 40 km or 25 miles. The British officials, desirous to accommodate the King of England, started the race at Windsor Castle and finished at the Royal box in the Olympic Stadium—a distance of precisely 26 miles 385 yards. But that only explains why the London marathon’s distance was 42. 195 km. It doesn’t tell us why this distance was chosen as the definitive marathon distance. A dramatic event The London race became famous because of the so called ‘London affair’. Dorando Pietri, an Italian runner, leading the race was staggering badly when he entered the Olympic Stadium. He collapsed several times on the track. The crowd in the stadium thought he was going to die. A compassionate official, finally helped the semiconscious runner across the finish line. After the event, the story was on the media for days. Some even reported Pietri had died in the hospital after the race. This sensational finish helped the marathon fix itself in the imagination of the crowds as THE endurance race, even though it was dangerous to run. This helped spread the word about marathon running more than anything else.

Unfortunately, because of the help he had received, the Italian runner was disqualified and Johnnie Hayes was declared winner. The IAAF never officially explained why they had chosen 26 miles and 385 yards as the official distance for the marathon in 1921. But I’m a strong believer that it is due to the enormous emotion generated by the London race. Latest Interviews 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. The Marathon’s Accidental Route to 26 Miles 385 Yards - The New York Times The New York Times Sports |The Marathon’s Random Route to Its Length Search The Marathon’s Random Route to Its Length JERÉ LONGMAN Continue reading the main story London At the Summer Olympics, the marathon will be the only foot race measured by the standard system instead of the metric system. And yet the precise distance of 26 miles 385 yards is entirely random, established at the 1908 London Games at least in part as an accommodation to the British royal family, not as an adherence to historical imperative. When the modern Olympics began in Athens in 1896, a race of 40 kilometers, or 24.85 miles, was held to commemorate the legend of Pheidippides . He is the messenger who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to announce a Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. And to have promptly died.

The 1900 Olympic marathon in Paris covered just over 25 miles, and the 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis returned to the distance of 24.85 miles. This was more like cooking than civil engineering. Race directors designed their courses by a sense of feel, not by a fastidious recipe. Continue reading the main story In Paris, according to David Wallechinsky’s “The Complete Book of the Olympics,” the route was so badly marked that some runners veered off course and had to share the road with bicyclists, automobiles, recreational runners and the occasional animal. One of the favorites stopped for a beer early in the race and dropped out. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The 1908 London Games established what is now the customary distance of the marathon. The exact reasons are in dispute, myth intertwining like a vine with fact over the past century. But the result, Wallechinsky said, was a race length that was “completely arbitrary.” The race began on the East Terrace at Windsor Castle.

According to some accounts, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales, had been influenced by attending the unofficial 1906 Athens Olympics on the 10th anniversary of the modern Games. For the 1908 Olympic marathon , the Princess of Wales watched the start, which began near the window of the royal nursery so that her children could watch, according to David Miller’s history of the Olympics, “Athens to Athens.” Thus, Miller wrote, the marathon distance “was determined in a bizarre manner.” Photo John Hayes of the United States was eventually declared the winner of the marathon at the 1908 Games after a controversial finish. Credit Associated Press But David Davis, author of a forthcoming book about the race, “Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush,” said the isolated starting point most likely had to do with controlling the crowd. “There was no demand by the royal family to start beneath the window,” Davis said. It was about 26 miles from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium in West London at Shepherd’s Bush.

The original plan had the runners coming into the stadium at the royal entrance and running about 585 yards, circling the track counterclockwise and finishing in front of the royal box, Davis said. But the royal entrance was deemed unsuitable; instead the runners entered at the opposite end of the stadium and, to enhance the view for the Queen and others, ran clockwise for 385 yards to the royal box. The final yards made for a gripping and contentious result. Entering the stadium first on that hot and humid July day was an Italian pastry chef named Dorando Pietri. But he was exhausted, delirious. He turned the wrong way on the track, reversed course and began stumbling. According to news accounts, Pietri fell five times in that final quarter-mile. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, covered the race for The Daily Mail of London and wrote, “I caught a glimpse of the haggard, yellow face, the glazed, expressionless eyes, the long, black hair streaked across the brow.” By assisting Pietri to his feet, race officials knew they were jeopardizing his gold medal.

But as the official Olympic report said, “It was impossible to leave him there, for it looked as if he might die in the very presence of the Queen.” Pietri reached the tape first, collapsed and was placed on a stretcher. Arriving second was John Hayes of the United States, which had become incensed by a controversial finish in the 400 meters and the absence of the Stars and Stripes from the roof of the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony. The Americans protested the aid given to Pietri, and Hayes was declared the winner. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Though he was disqualified, Pietri became a hero. Queen Alexandra presented him with a gold cup. He spurred an international marathon craze. Irving Berlin wrote a song about him. And finally in 1921, the official marathon distance became 26 miles 385 yards, the evolution of which is largely lost on today’s top runners. Photo What is now the customary distance of the marathon was partly established to provide a better view for the royal family at the start at Windsor Castle.

Credit Associated Press “I had no idea,” said Wilson Kipsang of Kenya, who has run the second-fastest marathon in 2 hours 3 minutes 42 seconds. “That is fantastic.” Then he suggested the race should be lengthened to 30 miles to make it more exciting. Patrick Makau of Kenya, the world-record holder in 2:03:38 , had a similar idea. “People are used to running” 26.2 miles, Makau said. “They run it like it is a short distance. Longer would be better.” Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Abel Kirui of Kenya, the two-time world champion, said he thought the standard marathon distance was perfect, given that elite runners and recreational runners can compete in the same race. “If you train well enough, it is a distance that will not kill you,” Kirui said. “And it unites people.” On Sunday, the three Kenyans will compete in the London Marathon, hoping to qualify for the Olympics, which will be run on a mostly different course.

At the 2012 Games, the marathon will not finish at the royal box in the Olympic Stadium. Instead, it will conclude along the Mall, between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. “The royals aren’t what they used to be,” Wallechinsky said. “I doubt they’ll change the marathon or fencing to please Prince Harry.” A footnote: In his book, “The Marathon Makers,” John Bryant wrote that the first mile of the 1908 course was measured again in recent years. It came up 174 yards short. A version of this article appears in print on April 21, 2012, on Page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Marathon’s Random Route To Its Length. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Question: How long, to the nearest mile, is an Olympic marathon?
Answer: 26