The distance of a marathon is actually 42.195 kilometers, not exactly 42 kilometers. There’s an interesting story behind this specific distance.
The origin goes back to ancient Greece and the legend of a soldier named Pheidippides. After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, he supposedly ran from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to deliver news of the Greek victory. According to the historian Herodotus, he collapsed and died from exhaustion upon delivering the message. The distance between these locations is estimated to be around 40 kilometers.
However, the modern marathon distance is linked to the 1908 Olympic Games in London. Back then, there wasn’t a standardized distance for marathons. The race organizers wanted the course to be roughly 25 miles (around 40.2 kilometers), which was the distance of the marathon in the previous Olympics.
Here’s where the twist comes in:
- The race started at Windsor Castle.
- To make the finish line more spectacular, it was placed in front of the royal family’s viewing box at White City Stadium.
- The problem? The distance between these two points was slightly longer than 25 miles – it was about 26 miles.
- To address this, an additional 385 yards (352 meters) were added to the course, bringing the total distance to the now-familiar 26.2 miles (or 42.195 kilometers).
This distance was later officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1921. So, the marathon distance is a combination of historical reference, a tribute to the Olympics, and a touch of royal-inspired route modification.