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
Bangkok Marathon miles) to 27.6 km (17.1 miles). According to organisers, the increase was due to the race officials directing runners to take a turn at the wrong place which added over 3 km extra to each of the two laps. The mistake sparked humour and outcry in the social and news media. "The Guardian" called it "world's longest half marathon". Some comments on social media called it a "Super Half Marathon", while some called it a byproduct of "race inflation". Organizers apologized for the mistake and decided to offer a T-shirt saying "Finisher of 27.6 km" to participants who completed the