5 facts about history of marathon you must know

#3 The marathon distance

Pietri crossing the line, just, at the end of the 1908 marathon in the White City Stadium (Image credits: Wikipedia)

Why is the distance of the marathon set at 26.2 miles or 42.195 kilometres? Well, it wasn't the case until the 1908 London Olympics, till which marathons of approximately 25 miles were held. Then in 1908 at London, it was Queen Alexandra who put forth a request the distance be extended to 26.2 miles until the East Lawn of Windsor Castle.

The reason behind this was the fact that then it was possible for the royal children to watch the race from their nursery. Thus, this distance became the international standard from 1924 onwards and carries on till the modern day.