Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance road running race of 42.195 kilometers, or 26 miles and 385 yards, and it is the longest race on the Olympic athletics program. Its name comes from the run attributed to the Greek soldier Philippides, who is said to have carried news of a Persian defeat from the battle of Marathon to Athens. The distance was standardized by the international athletics federation in 1921.

History of the marathon

The race was created from an idea by the French scholar Michel Bréal for the first modern Olympic Games in Greece in 1896. Early plans gave varied distances. A handwritten letter by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 gave 48 kilometers, programs printed that November listed 42 kilometers, and a February 1896 program for Athens set 40 kilometers on a road from Marathon to the stadium.

After 1896, marathons were run over undefined distances of roughly 40 kilometers for decades. The 1908 Olympics in London set the course at 26 miles and 385 yards. The Olympic Museum says organizers wanted the race to start on the lawn of Windsor Castle and finish in front of the Royal Box at the White City Stadium, while World Athletics says the extra 385 yards came from moving the start so the race could end in front of the royal family.

The reason for that exact length is disputed. A popular story says the start was set so that children in the royal nursery could watch, but the historian Bob Wilcox calls this a myth. The Olympic Museum notes that the athletics federation’s records do not explain why the odd distance was chosen.

Later Games used different lengths. Stockholm in 1912 used 40.2 kilometers on the first out-and-back course, and Antwerp in 1920 was probably the longest at about 42.75 kilometers. In 1921 the international federation officially accepted 42.195 kilometers as the standard length, and Paris in 1924 was the first Games to use it.

The 1908 race also produced one of the sport’s best-known scenes. Dorando Pietri of Italy collapsed near the finish, and the American Johnny Hayes was later awarded the gold medal after a protest.

Rules and how the marathon is run

The marathon is a single race over the full distance, and the winner is the runner with the fastest time from the start to the finish line. The course can be a loop, an out-and-back route or a series of laps. Refueling stations appear every 5 kilometers on the course, according to World Athletics.

The fixed length is what makes the event comparable from one race to the next. In everyday use the distance is usually rounded to 26.2 miles. The first marathons had no such standard, and for almost 25 years before 1921 the distance varied from one event to another.

Course and venues

Marathons are mostly held on roads through cities, and the finish at major championships is sometimes placed inside a stadium. The 1896 course ended at the stadium in Athens, and the 1908 race finished in front of the royal party at the White City Stadium.

Because a course may be a loop, a straight route or laps of a shorter circuit, no two marathon courses are exactly alike. The marathon is the longest event on the Olympic program, and unlike track events it is not run on a standard oval.

Governing bodies and major competitions

World Athletics, formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations, standardized the distance and governs the event worldwide. It also publishes world rankings that list leading marathon runners by points. The marathon is a fixture of the Olympic Games, and many large city races take place each year.

Several Olympic marathons are landmarks. In 1960 at Rome, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won in a world record time and became the first Black African Olympic champion. In 1964 he became the first man to successfully defend the Olympic marathon title.

Women’s marathon running reached the Olympics in 1984 at Los Angeles, where Joan Benoit of the United States won the first women’s Olympic marathon.

Records and notable moments

The men’s world record was lowered below two hours in 2026. Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the London Marathon on 26 April 2026 in 1:59:30, the first official marathon under two hours. The previous official record was 2:00:35, set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago on 8 October 2023, so it stood for about two and a half years.

Sawe was under record pace at 10 kilometers, passed the halfway point in 1:00:29 and pulled away from Jacob Kiplimo, who was two seconds behind at 30 kilometers. Yomif Kejelcha finished 11 seconds behind Sawe, and Kiplimo was third in 2:00:28, so the first three runners finished within about a minute of each other. Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 in 2019, but that time was unofficial and is not a world record, and Sawe’s time was 10 seconds faster than it.

On the same day in London, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia defended her title and ran 2:15:41 in the women’s-only race, a women-only world record. It improved her own previous women-only record of 2:15:50, set in London on 27 April 2025. When the races took place, reports said both marks were subject to ratification, and a report from July 2026 says World Athletics has formally ratified both records.

Global reach

The marathon is one of the most widely run distance events in the world, and its leading performers come from many countries. In the World Athletics rankings checked for this entry, Sawe of Kenya and Kiplimo of Uganda led the men, and Assefa and Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia led the women.

The first women’s Olympic race in 1984 and the Olympic wins of Bikila in 1960 and 1964 show how the event opened to athletes from more countries during the twentieth century.

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 4, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue