Marathons at the Olympics Olympics marked the introduction of the now standard distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 km). However, it was not until the 1924 Paris Olympics that this distance became the standard at the Olympics. The Olympic marathon proved immediately popular in the Western world and quickly spawned numerous long-running annual races, including the Boston Marathon in 1897, the Tour de Paris Marathon in 1902, the Yonkers Marathon in 1907, and the London Polytechnic Marathon in 1909. Such marathons played a key role in the expansion of the road running movement internationally over the course of the 20th century. It has
Arthur Blake (distance runner) Arthur Blake (distance runner) Arthur Blake ("Arthur Charles "Skipper" Blake;" January 26, 1872 – October 22, 1944) was an American athlete who competed in the 1500 meters and the marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Blake was born on January 26, 1872 in Boston, Massachusetts. Blake competed for the Boston Athletic Association and it was after a 1000 yard race he said in jest ""I'm too good for Boston, I ought to go over and run the Marathon, at Athens, in the Olympic Games"", the comment was overheard by stockbroker Arthur Burnham, who then offered to finance a