White City, London paving outside the building. The Marathon from these London Olympics played an important part in the development of the modern marathon race. In the early years of competitive international sport, the long distance marathon race did not have a standard set distance. The distance run at the first seven Olympics from 1896 to 1920 varied between 40km and 42.75 km. The starting point of the race at the 1908 Olympics was at Windsor Castle creating a distance of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) to the finishing line at White City stadium. In 1921 this was adopted as the standard
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