Editing Marathon (section)

===1908 Olympics===
{{main|Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics&nbsp;– Men's marathon}}
The [[International Olympic Committee]] agreed in 1907 that the distance for the 1908 London Olympic marathon would be about 25 miles or 40 kilometers. The organizers decided on a course of 26 miles from the start at [[Windsor Castle]] to the royal entrance to the [[White City Stadium]], followed by a lap (586 yards 2 feet; 536 m) of the track, finishing in front of the Royal Box.<ref name='ISOH'>{{cite journal|author=Wilcock, Bob |title=The 1908 Olympic Marathon|journal= Journal of Olympic History|volume= 16 |issue =1|date=March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.athensmarathon.com/marathon/history.html |title=History of the Athens Marathon |access-date=23 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815130659/http://www.athensmarathon.com/marathon/history.html |archive-date=15 August 2012 }}</ref> The course was later altered to use a different entrance to the stadium, followed by a partial lap of 385 yards to the same finish.

The modern {{convert|42.195|km|mi|abbr=on}} standard distance for the marathon was set by the [[International Amateur Athletic Federation]] (IAAF) in May 1921<ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/disciplines/road-running/marathon "Marathon: How it works"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311040313/http://www.iaaf.org/disciplines/road-running/marathon |date=11 March 2013 }}, IAAF website</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6235&Itemid=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924220856/http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6235&Itemid=2|archive-date=2008-09-24|title=The Marathon journey to reach 42.195km |date=25 April 2008 |publisher=european-athletics.org|access-date=23 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Martin|first=David E.|author2=Roger W. H. Gynn|title=The Olympic Marathon|publisher=Human Kinetics Publishers|date=May 2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/olympicmarathon00mart/page/113 113]|isbn=978-0-88011-969-6|url=https://archive.org/details/olympicmarathon00mart/page/113}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/imported/42192.pdf |title=IAAF Competition Rules 2008 |page=195 |publisher=[[International Association of Athletics Federations|IAAF]] |access-date=20 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325001003/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/imported/42192.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009 }}</ref> directly from the length used at the [[1908 Summer Olympics]] in London.