The Marathon

The 1908 Olympic Marathon was the first time the race was run at the now established Olympic distance of 26 miles and 385 yards.

The race took place on Friday, 24th July 1908. The British, who prided themselves on their long distance running, assumed they would win. But after two weeks of piling up athletic triumphs, Team America was determined they would dominate this “crowning feature of the track and field events at the Olympic Games.”

The race began under royal windows on the East Terrace of Windsor Castle. It was a hot day and there were many shifts and changes of lead. Spectators in the packed stadium - including Sherlock Holmes’s creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was reporting for the Daily Mail - watched a dramatic finish. Italian Dorando Pietri entered the stadium with a three minute lead. His heroic efforts at the limits of exhaustion so won the sympathy of the crowd that track officials helped him across the finish line.

 

 

 

Pietri was later disqualified for the help he received and the gold medal was given to the Irish American runner from New York, Johnny Hayes, who entered the stadium second and finished unaided.

 

 

 

 

Queen Alexandra presented Dorando Pietri with a special silver cup for his courage.

 

The widespread newspaper coverage of the race made the disqualified Italian a popular hero across Europe and America alongside the official winner, Hayes.

Postcard of Pietri (first at tape) and Hayes (official winner)

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