At the 1904 Summer Olympics, twenty-five athletics events were contested. A total of 74 medals were awarded.
Thomas John Hicks was an American track and field athlete. He won the marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics.
John Joseph Hayes was an American athlete, a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, and winner of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Hayes' Olympic victory contributed to the early growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States. He was also the first man to win a marathon at the now official standard distance of 26 miles 385 yards when Olympic officials lengthened the distance to put the finish line in front of the Royal Box.
The men's marathon race of the 1908 Summer Olympics took place in London on 24 July 1908. Johnny Hayes won after Dorando Pietri was disqualified for having received assistance before the finish line. For the first time in an Olympic marathon, the distance was 26 mi 385 yd (42.195 km), which would become the standard distance in 1921. 75 competitors entered the race, of whom 55 from 16 nations started, with 27 from 11 nations finishing. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. Charles Hefferon's silver medal earned South Africa its first Olympic marathon medal.
Ronald John MacDonald was a Canadian runner, best known as the winner of the second Boston Marathon in 1898. He later became a successful physician in Nova Scotia.
Frederick Lorz was an American long distance runner who won the 1905 Boston Marathon. Lorz is also known for his "finish" in the marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics, where he did not cross the halfway mark of the race, and crossed the line to be hailed as the winner.
Sidney Herbert Hatch was an American athlete who competed for the United States in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, United States, in the 4-mile team where he won the silver medal with his teammates James Lightbody, Frank Verner, Lacey Hearn and Frenchman Albert Corey.
The men's marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany was held on Sunday September 10, 1972. The race started at 15:00h local time. There were 74 competitors from 39 countries. Twelve of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Frank Shorter of the United States, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory since 1908 and third overall. Karel Lismont won Belgium's second medal in the marathon with his silver. Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia became only the second man, after his countryman Abebe Bikila, to win two medals in the marathon. Ethiopia's four-Games medal streak was matched only by Finland (1920–1932).
South Africa first participated at the Olympic Games in 1904, and sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games until 1960. After the passage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1761 in 1962 in response to South Africa's policy of apartheid, the nation was barred from the Games. After the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa commenced in 1990, the nation re-joined the Olympic movement. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was created in 1991, and South Africa returned to the Games at the 1992 Summer Olympics. South Africa also participated in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960, and since 1994. South African athletes have won a total of 90 medals, with athletics, boxing, and swimming as the top medal-producing sports.
The men's marathon was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The distance used was 40.2 kilometres, nearly 2 full kilometres shorter than that used in 1908 and since 1924. The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912. 95 runners entered, but only 68 runners competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. With conditions described as "very hot", only 36 of the 68 competitors finished. The event was won by Ken McArthur of South Africa, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory.
The men's marathon event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The distance of this race was 42.75 kilometres. The competition was held on Sunday, 22 August 1920. 48 runners from 17 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland, the nation's first Olympic marathon medal and victory; Kolehmainen received his fourth gold medal, having won the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres, and individual cross country in 1912. Estonia and Italy also won their first marathon medals.
Félix de la Caridad Carvajal y Soto, known as Andarín Carvajal was a Cuban mailman and long-distance runner who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.
Samuel Alexander Mellor Jr. was an American long-distance runner who won the 1902 Boston Marathon and competed in the marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri.
John Charles Lordan (or Lorden) (born June 30, 1874, or June 29, 1876, died February 12, 1960) was an American long-distance runner who won the 1903 Boston Marathon and competed in the marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri.
Len Taunyane was a South African track and field athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics in the Men's marathon, and was therefore one of the first two black Africans to participate in the modern Olympic Games.
The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first modern Olympics in 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Marathon course-cutting occurs when runners complete less than an entire course of a marathon before going over the finish line. The standard length of a marathon course is 42.195 kilometers, about 26.2 miles. Course-cutting may be intentional or unintentional and can be achieved by various means. When done intentionally, course-cutting constitutes cheating.
Jan Mashiani was a Tswana track and field athlete from South Africa who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics in the marathon. He finished thirteenth of the fifteen finishers, but moved up to twelfth after Frederick Lorz was disqualified.
The 2020 London Marathon was the 40th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 4 October 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postponed from 26 April and only allowed elite participants; the mass participation event was cancelled. The event used a different course from usual, consisting of multiple laps around St James's Park.
The 1901 Boston Marathon was the fifth edition of the marathon race from Ashland to Boston, Massachusetts, United States on April 19, 1901. The event was organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.). Rather than the modern marathon distance of 26.2 miles (42.2 km), the distance was officially 25 miles (40 km), though it has since been measured to be about 23.1–23.9 miles (37.2–38.5 km). About 25,000 spectators lined the course, many of them following and cheering on their preferred runners for significant stretches as they passed.
