Clarence DeMar DeMar did not return to serious competition until 1922, when he again won the Boston marathon in a course record 2:18:10. He repeated the victory in 1923 and 1924. In the latter year the full Olympic distance – 26 miles, 385 yards – was run. He was selected as one of the six runners on the U.S Olympic marathon team for the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he finished third. DeMar continued his success with a second-place finish at the 1925 Boston marathon, and a third-place finish the next year. He followed that with five consecutive marathon victories: at the Baltimore
Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon Olympic Association that the 1908 Olympics would include a marathon of about 25 miles or 40 kilometres. The British Olympic Council handed responsibility for organising the Marathon to the Amateur Athletic Association, but they had no experience at organising a road race of such a length. In late 1907, an offer was made by Jack Andrew honorary secretary of the Polytechnic Harriers to take over the task. This was accepted in February 1908, though already, in November 1907, a route of "about 25 to 26 miles in distance" had been published in the newspapers, starting at Windsor Castle and finishing