Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon Alexandra the next day awarded him a gold or silver-gilt cup in recognition of his achievement. Pietri and Hayes both turned professional and there were several re-matches over the distance of 26 miles 385 yards. Many other marathons adopted that distance, including the important Polytechnic Marathon. The IAAF minutes are reportedly silent as to the reason the 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) was chosen in 1921, so any conclusion must be speculative, but regardless of any possible emotional attachment to the distance of the "race of the century", the London 1908 distance had established itself worldwide by that time.
Dublin Marathon levels have since increased significantly year-on-year with 19,500 completing the 2016 event. In 2001 the marathon became part of the Dublin Race Series, which includes pre-marathon events of 5 miles, 10 kilometres, 10 miles and half marathon distance over the preceding months, run in the Phoenix Park and Swords. A competitor died while running in the 2006 marathon and another in the 2013 marathon. The Dublin marathon is associated to a series of 4 other races in the calendar year. These races include, The Irish Runner 5 mile, The Frank Duffy 10 mile, Fingal 10k and the Dublin half Marathon.