The 1908 London Olympic Games Marathon ran from inside the grounds of Windsor Castle to The White City Stadium, finishing in front of the Royal Box. It was 24 July 1908, a very hot day, and the race started at 11.30am.

American athlete Johnny Hayes was awarded the gold medal after Italian waiter Dorando Pietri was disqualified for 'receiving assistance' after he entered the stadium well ahead but, suffering from dehydration, started running in the wrong direction, fell over, was redirected and fell four more times before finishing first in 2:54:46 – his final 350 yards having taken around 10 minutes.  

Queen Alexandra awarded Pietri a special gilded silver cup to commemorate his heroics. The 1908 marathon was also significant as it was the first to be officially measured at 26.2 miles, and its legacy event – the Polytechnic Marathon – became the longest-running European marathon, producing eight world records from 1909 to 1996.

Now you can run in the footsteps of legends on the original 1908 marathon course in the Original 1908 Marathon on Saturday, 7 March 2026. Launch tickets for this race were sold out in a few days, but a ballot for the remaining places is open until 30 September 2025. Half-price charity numbers are also available, subject to a £350 donation pledge to the event's spinal cord injury charity partner Aspire.

Organisers Participation Sport explains this is not a PB course as the roads are not closed, the route is on footpaths, and numerous roundabouts have to be safely navigated via pedestrian crossings. While the course follows the original as closely as possible, there are some sections where roads have changed, and some small deviations are required.

Otherwise, the Original 1908 Marathon is faithful to the original with morning start times (including a 'fast' wave at 11:30am), a 1908 replica medal in a presentation box, and a Diploma of Merit for all finishers, exactly as the 1908 competitors received.

To find out more, you can read all the FAQs here and check out the Original 1908 Marathon blog here. 

To view a two-minute video story on last year's Original 1908 Marathon, click here.

Photos courtesy of Original 1908 Marathon on Facebook