100 Marathon Club - 1908 Olympic Marathon Centenary
The 100 Marathon Club organised an invitation race to commemorate the event that established 26 miles 385 distance as the de facto standard.
The original race is steeped in history and romanticism and the 100 Marathon Club didn’t want the moment to pass without adding its own salute. Organised by Tad Lancucki and using the course re-measured by Hugh Jones for Sir Ranulph Fiennes for his 2003 7 marathons - 7 continents – 7 days. Reason enough for our John Gibson to want to take part!
click on picture for a larger version.
Promoted by Tad as a no-frills race (no marshals, no directional or mile-markers and carry your own drinks) this brilliant event delivered everything that it promised, including a wonderful medal based on the original Olympic design.
The runners had to cross two motorways in contrast to the dusty, country roads of 100 years ago. Unlike the original race there was no sign of the Oxo refreshment stations, staffed by nurses, providing hot & cold Oxo, eau de Cologne and smelling salts. Although there were many Whetherspoons’ stations, with the exception of a table outside the Wards' Freehouse at 17½ miles, the only drinks available were those carried by the runners or their supporters.
Appart from the centenary factor, the most compelling reason that drew John to this race was the opportunity to salute one his all-time heros – Dorando Pietri from Mandrio, a district of Correggio, in Italy.
In 1908, as an unknown runner, he was first to enter the stadium, collapsed several times and ran the wrong way. Not far from the finish, two officials took him by the arms and brought him to the line. As a consequence, after crossing the line he was disqualified. The medal went to American Johnny Hayes who was second but the glory went to Pietri. Since he had not been responsible for his disqualification, Queen Alexanda next day awarded him a gold cup.
Re-live the original event:
Report Highlights
Thursday 24th July 2008 at 2:30 pm – 100 years later to the minute.
The field was graced by the presence of Hugh Jones, the only Londoner to ever win the London Marathon.
67 starters - 67 finishers.
But for the kind support and encouragement of Gill Carrick, John Gibson would not have started let-alone finish this challenging race. Delivering John to the start, accompanying him around the course on her bike, then driving him back home again doesn’t tell even half the story.
The original route was sign-posted in reverse distances. So the original 1-mile marker (still present at Barnespool Bridge, Eton) showed 25 miles to White City Stadium. The 2008 route is shown below.
Obtain a printer-friendly copy of the results.
