Polytechnic Marathon Polytechnic Marathon The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a marathon held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the global standard. A total of eight world marathon bests were set in the Poly, including the first authenticated time under 2 hours, 20 minutes which had been regarded as the marathon equivalent of the four-minute mile. At the time of its demise in 1996, the Poly was Europe's oldest regular marathon. It had seen
Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon The men's marathon was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 19, 1900. 13 athletes from five nations competed in the marathon, which used a distance of 40.26 kilometres. The winner, Michel Théato, was a native of Luxembourg who is believed to have competed for France. These were the standing world and Olympic records (in hours) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics. "(*)" Distance was 40 kilometres The marathon race, which began at 2:30 p.m. on a day with temperatures