The 1908 Olympic Marathon is probably the most important and controversial ever run. The fourth modern Olympic Games were held in West London, based in the stadium at White City. The start of the marathon was at Windsor Castle, at the request of Princess Mary to start directly beneath the windows of the royal nursery on the castle grounds, a distance to the stadium of 26 miles, 385 yards—it remains the official marathon distance.

The most famous incident of the Games came at the end of the event. It occurred when the first runner to enter the stadium, Dorando Pietri of Italy, collapsed several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from the finish-line, two of the officials took him by the arms, and brought him to the line. As a consequence, after crossing the line he was disqualified. The medal went to American Johnny Hayes who was second over the line, but the glory went to Pietri. Since he himself had not been responsible for his disqualification, Queen Alexandra the next day awarded him a gold cup in recognition of his achievement.

The 1948 London Olympic Games were also held in West London on the site which now houses Wembley Stadium. They were the first to be shown on home television, although very few people in Great Britain actually owned sets.

To mark the centenary of this historic event and to commemorate the 1908 and 1948 Olympic and Paralympic Games in West London, you are invited to complete your own marathon challenge. But don’t worry – you don’t need to complete the whole 26 miles 385 yards in one go! Neither do you have to run it! Once you’ve registered, you can log on as many times as you like and enter your distances and your activities. Why not share it with friends or challenge your family and see who is first to complete the distance?

Register now!


Images courtesy of LBHF archives