The History of 26.2 miles
The length of an Olympic marathon was not precisely fixed at first, but the marathon races in the first few Olympic Games were about 40 kilometers (25 mi). That was close to the distance from Marathon to Athens by the longer, flatter route. The exact length depended on the route established for each venue. 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 start to finish. The London Olympic Organizing Committee decided on starting at Windsor Castle having runners travel to the royal entrance of the White City Stadium, do a lap (586 yards, 2 feet; 536 m) of the track and finishing in front of the Royal Box. 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 length of a marathon, 26.2 miles is directly correlated with the distance decided by the 1908 Olympic Committee. To give you a better idea of the relative distance, it would be like running from Madison to New Glarus, WI. It’s the distance our very own Dr. Maggie Smith ran, with her mother, sister, and sister-in-law, in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, October 6th, 2013.
The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon has been dubbed The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America. It is one of the 10 largest marathons in the United States with 8,857 finishers this year and an average time of 4:17:34.
A Marathon of a Decision
Dr. Maggie Smith decided to run in the race when her mother brought it up back at the beginning of the summer season.
“My mom wanted to do her fourth marathon but wanted to go through the training process with other people. So she talked me into it since I had done two prior marathons. The same night I said yes, we talked my sister and sister-in-law into doing it as well. This would be the first marathon for both of them. I loved having my family to both celebrate and commensurate with during the ups and downs of training. We all finished but the best part is that my mom had her best marathon time ever, just over 4 hours, and qualified for the Boston Marathon, which is a feat in itself!” ~Dr. Smith
It should be noted to qualify for the Boston Marathon runners have to compete in a standard marathon certified by a national governing body affiliated with the International Association of Athletics Federation with a specific run time.
“The training was interesting because none of us live in the same city! The four of us live in Lincoln, Nebraska, San Antonio, Texas, Madison, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota. So most of our contact was via phone calls and texting. I was able to do a 20 mile training run with my sister-in-law, Courtney; after that, we decided we would run the entire race together to help get each other through it. This was my third marathon but it was the toughest one for me both physically and mentally, so it was nice that my sister-in-law was there encouraging me every step of the race. I finished with a smile but I have no intentions of doing another one for a very, very long time!” ~Dr. Smith
The Details of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon earns the title of being “The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America” with 26.2 good reasons. With mile after mile of parkways, lakes, rivers and tree-lined boulevards, the scenery can’t be beat. Add 300,000 screaming fans, 10 Cheer Zones, over a dozen course entertainment acts, and racers have an experience that they will never forget. This point-to-point course begins near the Mall of America Field in downtown Minneapolis and finishes at the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul. The course winds around four beautiful lakes and along both sides of the Mississippi River. The course contains a few rolling hills; but with a starting and finishing elevation of approximately 840 feet and no climbs over 100 feet long, it’s nothing a runner can’t handle. The final stretch races past the clanging bells of the Saint Paul Cathedral and downhill onto the spectacular view of the State Capitol and the finish line.
Top 10 Largest Marathons in the United States
- ING New York City Marathon with 43000 (nations biggest marathon)
- Bank of America Chicago Marathon with 33000 (the elite come to this World Marathon Majors event)
- Boston Marathon with 22000 (arguably the most famous modern marathon)
- Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC with 21000 (the peoples marathon)
- Honolulu Marathon with 20000 (classic destination race)
- Walt Disney World Marathon with 14000 (Happiest Race on Earth)
- Los Angeles Marathon with 14000 (landmarks at every mile)
- Rock n’ Roll San Diego Marathon with 13000 (original rock n’ roll marathon)
- Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon with 8000 (most beautiful urban marathon in America)
- Portland Marathon with 8000
Affiliated Dentists is very proud of the effort and commitment Dr. Smith put into her training. She did a great job running this race. And hopefully next April we will find out how well Dr. Smith’s mother did in the Boston Marathon.
We want to hear from you.
What’s the best marathon you’ve ever ran? What was the highlight of your experience? Have you ran in local marathons like the Madison Marathon?
