Polytechnic Marathon City Stadium in front of the Royal Box, a distance that turned out to be 26 miles, 385 yards. There was immense public interest in the 1908 Olympic race, with its dramatic finish in which Dorando Pietri of Italy entered the stadium well clear of the field and staggered around the last lap to the finish line—only to be disqualified for receiving assistance. Building on this interest, "The Sporting Life" newspaper offered a magnificent trophy for an annual international marathon that would be second in importance only to the Olympic event itself. The Polytechnic Harriers were again asked to organise
Quarter marathon Quarter marathon Quarter marathon (QM) refers to either an exact race of a quarter of a marathon, or running for 10–15 kilometers (approx. 6.5–9 miles) without a rest. The former is held in many places around the world. Sisaket, a north-eastern province in Thailand, holds quarter marathons on the third Sunday of December every year. Bushey, a town in East England also holds quarter marathons every July. The Congleton Quarter Marathon was set up by the Congleton Lions; it afforded participants the opportunity to run alongside the half marathon runners. The Congleton Lions decided to stop organising the race in