The marathon length of 26 miles 385 yards was set during the 1908 Olympics held in London. This strange distance has nothing to do with the original run from Marathon to Athens in 490BC, which is around 24 miles. Instead we have a British monarch to thank for this rather cruel distance, extended pandering to the whims of Queen Alexandra.

The original 24 miles killed a Greek messenger Eucles, who only had enough strength to report on the battle of Marathon with the words “Rejoice! We conquer” , before dropping down dead from exhaustion. To be fair to Eucles though, he did run the whole way in full body armour! – perhaps paving the way for today’s fun runner in fancy dress.

Depending upon which historian you believe, the messenger is normally referred to as Pheidippides. In the second century AD Lucian called him Phillipidis, though this is probably just an early ‘typo’. Whatever the name, and whatever the distance, it was never 26 miles 235 yards until 1908.

The London 1908 Marathon was originally planned to be a standard distance of 25 miles, the course running from the centre of Windsor to the Olympic stadium in White City. But Queen Alexandra wanted the race to start on the lawn at Windsor Castle, so that Princess Mary and her children could watch from their nursery window. This added another mile to the course.

As if this wasn’t long enough, an additional 385 yards was put on the end of the course, just so that the race finished under Queen Alexandra’s royal box. So on a royal whim the Marathon has been set at 26 miles 385 yards ever since. This could convert any running Monarchist into a Republican overnight!

John McNally