Why the Marathon Is 26.2 Miles

The ancient Greek courier Pheidippides did not actually run 26.2 miles. As Herodotus tells it, he ran from Athens to Sparta and back — roughly 150 miles each way — to request military aid. The 'Athens to Marathon' run, about 26 miles, is a later conflation.

When Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympics in 1896, the first marathon covered about 25 miles, approximating the legendary distance. The 1900 Paris and 1904 St. Louis Games also ran something close to 25. The precise modern distance — 26 miles and 385 yards, or 42.195 kilometers — did not exist until 1908.

That year the Olympics went to London. The organizing committee wanted the marathon to start at Windsor Castle and finish in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium. This was not a course chosen for the athletes. It was a route chosen so the British royal family could see the start from the castle's east lawn and Queen Alexandra could watch the finish from her seat. The measured distance between those two points happened to be 26 miles and 385 yards.

The same length was used again at the 1912 Stockholm and 1920 Antwerp Games, and in 1921 the International Amateur Athletic Federation made it official. Every subsequent Olympic and certified marathon has used it.

One detail about the 1908 race: the Italian candy-maker Dorando Pietri entered the stadium first, collapsed repeatedly on the track, and was physically helped across the line by officials. He was disqualified. Queen Alexandra, moved by his effort, had a special gilded cup commissioned for him the next day.