Marathon from the start at Windsor Castle to the royal entrance to the White City Stadium, followed by a lap (586 yards 2 feet; 536 m) of the track, finishing in front of the Royal Box. The course was later altered to use a different entrance to the stadium, followed by a partial lap of 385 yards to the same finish. The modern standard distance for the marathon was set by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in May 1921 directly from the length used at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. An official IAAF marathon course is 42.195 km (42
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