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 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