Polytechnic Marathon the event, and the Polytechnic Marathon was born. The first Polytechnic Marathon was held on 8 May 1909. Henry Barrett won, followed by Fred Lord, and Harry Green. As with the Olympic race, the start was at Windsor Castle and the course was 26 miles, 385 yards; this distance was adopted as the international standard for marathons in 1924. (The older Boston Marathon, founded in 1897, adopted the distance in 1924, but was slightly short for the first three years and was shorter still from 1951 to 1956.) Over the years, the route of the Poly Marathon varied. From 1909
Lisbon Half Marathon architecture, including the Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery. From 2008 onwards, the organisers set aside a €50,000 prize pot for any athlete breaking the world record over the half marathon distance. This led to the participation of a number of prominent athletes, with marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie winning the 2008 edition, while Charles Kamathi and Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot followed behind. Another strong field was assembled in 2010 and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea broke both the 20 kilometres and half marathon world records in his winning run. The competition also hosts a mini marathon race, which has featured many