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
Johnny Miles stayed with him until Heartbreak Hill, at which point he passed him. Miles completed the race in a time of 2:25:40. His time was so fast that the course was remeasured and found to be 176 yards short. Miles attempted to defend his title at the 1927 Boston Marathon, but dropped out early due to problems with his shoes. In 1929 Miles returned to Boston and won the marathon in a time of 2:33:08. Miles competed in two more Boston Marathons, never finishing higher than 10th. Between his two wins in Boston, Miles won the Canadian 10000 metre championship in