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
Many Clouds Chase Many Clouds Chase The Many Clouds Chase is a Grade Two National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Aintree over a distance of about 3 miles and 1 furlong (3 miles and 210 yards, or 5,020 metres), and during its running there are nineteen fences to be jumped. It is scheduled to take place each year in early December. The race is sponsored by Rewards4Racing and was first run as a Listed race in 2011. It was awarded Grade Two status and renamed in honour of Many