Why 26.2

For the next few Olympics, the length of the marathon remained close to 25 miles, but at the 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 The random boost in mileage ending up sticking, and in the length for a marathon was formally standardized at In America alone, there are now more than 1, marathons each year.

But concerns about the race affecting tram lines and then logistical problems getting runners into the stadium to finish in front of the queen lead to the finish being a yard dash instead of a full lap around the track. That brought the total race distance to When Pietri crossed into the stadium, he fell.

Two race officials and the race doctor helped him get back up, but he fell four more times before he crossed the finish line. Hayes came in a half minute behind him but was announced the winner because Pietri had help finishing. How could anyone judge who was the better runner if they didn't compete at the same distance as the original battle?

Pietri won by half a lap. The distance became known as the "London Olympic Distance," and was adopted by the International Association of Athletics Federations in , and then marathons soon after, including New York that same year, and Boston in So there you have it. Those extra 1. One of the people who came to his aid was a journalist named Arthur Conan Doyle.

Afterward, Conan Doyle wrote about Pietri's late-race struggles for the Daily Mail , saying , "Through the doorway crawled a little, exhausted man He trotted for a few exhausted yards like a man galvanized into life; then the trot expired into a slow crawl, so slow that the officials could scarcely walk slow enough to keep beside him. After the London Olympics, the distance of most marathons continued to hover between 24 and 26 miles, but it seems that Conan Doyle's writing may have brought special attention to the distance of Indeed, when the International Amateur Athletic Federation convened to standardize the marathon, they chose the old London distance of 26 miles and yards—or The next several Olympics saw a variety of distances for the marathon, but by the Olympiad in Paris, the 26 mile, yard distance was adopted by the IAAF as the official marathon length, and it has not changed since.

View More…. Bring your furry four legged friend and join the fun! We get this question a lot: older pups or those not used to the distance are welcome to ride in dog strollers or wagons. Also: a dog is not required to participate in this division! There are many people who run or walk the 2 Mile without a dog each year.

Ever wonder how race medals are made? Saw this adorable little pumpkin at the Pleasanton Rotary Spirit Run this morning. Happy Halloween! Today was fun! Great to be back out there with all of you.