--- ---  # How Boston Helped Invent the Modern Marathon by [Erin Blakemore](https://time.com/author/erin-blakemore/) ## Erin Blakemore Apr 18, 2016 11:30 AM UTC  A scene from the 1930 Boston marathon A scene from the 1930 Boston marathonKeystone-France / Gamma-Keystone / Getty Images by [Erin Blakemore](https://time.com/author/erin-blakemore/) ## Erin Blakemore Apr 18, 2016 11:30 AM UTC Thirty-thousand runners. One million spectators. Twenty six and two-tenths of a mile. For its participants and spectators, the Boston Marathon is an exhilarating numbers game—one that tests the grit, endurance and commitment of amateur and pro runners eager to finish the most prestigious race of them all. But the marathon, which celebrates is 120th anniversary this year, isn’t just a scenic (and grueling) run around the City on a Hill: It’s one of the events that helped define the modern marathon. Not that the concept of the marathon has only been around since 1897, when the [Boston Athletic Association](http://www.baa.org/) hosted its first run. The legendary event is itself based on legend. The story goes that Pheidippides, Athens’ best runner, was enlisted to run 150 mi. from Athens to Sparta and back again, to enlist help for the city’s fight against an invading force of Persians. When the Spartans refused to help, he ran back to Athens to deliver the bad news. Or maybe [Pheidippides](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1858762/) ran from Marathon to Athens (a distance of about 25 mi.) to announce that Athens won the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C.—then immediately died on the floor of the assembly. Nobody’s sure, and both or neither could be true. But somewhere along the line, both myths got tied together and the word “Marathon” became synonymous with running. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) That wasn’t lost on the organizers of the 1896 Olympics, the first modern incarnation of the games. The games were slated to be held in Athens itself, and the newly founded International Olympic Committee was on the hunt for a way to tie them back to the glories of ancient Greece. A French linguist named [Michel Bréal](http://thesportjournal.org/article/michel-breal-1832-1915-the-man-behind-the-idea-of-the-marathon/) was friends with one of the members of the IOC, and in 1894 he suggested that the committee “try and see if a long distance run from Marathon \[to Athens\] could be organized.” Bréal felt that such a run would “emphasize the character of Antiquity.” Bréal may have been influenced by [a Robert Browning poem](http://www.online-literature.com/robert-browning/shorter-poems/6/) that portrays Pheidippides shouting “Rejoice, we conquer!” before dropping dead, just one example of the 19th-century’s worship of the classical age. Ancient Greek influence could be found in everything from architecture to music—why not athletics, too? Bréal personally financed the trophy for the first modern Olympic marathon, which was 25 miles long. (Appropriately, a Greek athlete named [Spyridon Louis](http://www.olympic.org/spyridon-louis) won with a time of 2:58:50.) A year later, inspired by the glorious Olympic run, the Boston Athletic Association decided to celebrate its tenth anniversary with a marathon of their own. They decided to sponsor a run on Patriots’ Day, a New England holiday celebrated on the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The first run was 24.5 miles long and [included only 15 runners](http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history.aspx); over the years, the popularity of the event grew. As the marathon became a Boston tradition, the turn-of-the-century world was busy falling in love with long-distance running. The events were relatively cheap to organize, could be held in public and benefitted from the PR of the last-minute Olympic successes of runners like Dorando Pietri and [Johnny Hayes](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443537404577581300972495064), who persisted in the event in 1908 despite multiple collapses and challenges. Suddenly, marathons were all the rage, and amateurs began to try their hand at running long distances. Marathons began to be run on popular holidays when ordinary people had the day off to watch and, if they were brave, participate. ### The Boston Marathon Throughout History  Arthur Roth, winner of the 1916 Boston Marathon. Bettmann—Corbis  Johnny Miles, winner of the 1926 Boston Marathon. Underwood & Underwood—Corbis  Ellison M. "Tarzan" Brown, from Alton, R.I., crosses the finish line in the 43rd Boston Marathon, in 1939\. Brown finished the 26 miles, 385 yards in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 51.8 seconds, breaking the marathon world record. AP Photo  Gerard B. Cote, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1940. Paul J. Maguire—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Joe Smith. 36 year old Medford, Mass., milkman, crosses the final line to win the 46th renewal of the Boston A. A. Marathon, setting a new world mark of 2 hours 26 minutes 51 1/5 seconds, in 1941. © Bettmann—Corbis  Boston Marathon, 1946\. The race was won by Stylianos Kyriakides from Athens, Greece. Corbis  Gerard Cote running the 1946 Boston Marathon. Bill O'Connor—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Suh Yun-bok, 24, of South Korea, crosses the finish line, setting a new record in the Boston Marathon, 1947. Charles McCormick—The Boston Globe/Getty Images)  Keizo Yamada, 25-year-old Japanese mining engineer, crosses the finish line to win the 57th Boston Marathon, in 1953. AP Photo  237 runners competing in the annual Boston Marathon crossing the starting line, in 1963. Ted Russel—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  The rule that no women shall run in the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) Marathon is being put to a very real test in this photo. Trainer Jack Semple (in street clothes) enters the field of runners to try to pull Kathy Switzer (261) out of the race. Male runners move in to form protective curtain around the female track hopeful, until the protesting trainer is finally wedged out of the race, and Switzer is allowed to finish the marathon. Bettmann—Corbis  Ambrose Burfoot of Wesleyan University crosses the finish line of the 72nd running of the Boston Marathon, in 1968. Bettmann—Corbis  Amby Burfoot, right, and Jock Semple at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, April 19, 1968. Joe Dennehy—The Boston Globe/Getty Images)  Kathy Switzer runs in the Boston Marathon on April 19, 1971. Frank O'Brien—The Boston Globe/ Getty Images)  Kathy Switzer Miller running the Boston Marathon on April 17, 1972. Frank O'Brien—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Bill Rodgers, of Melrose, Mass., crosses the finish line to win the Boston Marathon in Boston on April 17, 1978\. Rodgers finished with an unofficial time of two hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds. This was Rodgers' second marathon win. AP Photo  Joan Benoit, the women's winner of the Boston Marathon, April 16, 1979. Janet Knott—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Patti (Lyons) Catalano in the Boston Marathon in 1981. Bill Brett—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Alberto Salazar looks over his shoulder to check on Dick Beardsley, rear, as they neared the finish line April 19, 1982 in the 86th annual Boston Marathon. Salazar went on to win the 26-mile, 385-yard distance in 2:08.51\. Beardsley followed by two seconds. AP Photo  The pack at the start of the 1983 race in Hopkinton. Grey Meyer, the eventual winner, led wearing number 3\. The top five finishers were all Americans: Ron Tabb was second, Benji Durden, third, Ed Mendoza, fourth and Chris Bunyan finished fifth. David L Ryan—The Boston Globe/Getty Images  Joan Benoit crosses the finish line Apr. 18, 1983 in Boston to win the women's division of the Boston Marathon in 2:22:42, shattering the world women's marathon mark by nearly three minutes. AP Photo  Dave Reinhart falls for a second time just short of the finish line of the Boston Marathon, 1983\. Reinhart was able to stand and cross the finish line ahead of record setter Joan Benoit, who finished with a time of 2 hours 22 minutes 42 seconds. Mike F. Kullen—AP Photo  Greg Meyer raises his arms in victory as Boston Mayor Kevin White places laurel wreath on his head on Monday, April 18, 1983 in Boston. AP Photo  An unidentified man, attired in business suit and black hat, jumped into the Boston Marathon pack Monday, April 17, 1984. AP Photo  John A. Kelley, 78, smiles as he approaches the finish line at the 90th running of the Boston Marathon, April 21, 1986\. Kelley's finish marked his 55th Boston Marathon. Mike Kullen—AP Photo During the 1908 London Summer Olympics, the marathon length was changed to 26.2 miles after some length [was added to the course](http://www.livescience.com/11011-marathons-26-2-miles-long.html) to accommodate the Royal Family, whose viewing box would have otherwise been located on the wrong side of the finish line. The longer course became popular and was adopted by the IOC, and the Boston race eventually adopted it, too. Eventually, women joined the race, too. Despite fears that women could never complete the race without quitting, getting injured or dying, trailblazers like [Marie-Louise Ledru](http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/womens-marathon-record-mystery) and [Arlene Piper](http://www.pikespeaksports.us/photo/expo-016) insisted on joining in. In 1966, [Roberta Gibb](http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/04/20/the-incredible-story-of-bobbi-gibb-the-first-woman-to-run-the-boston-marathon/) illicitly ran the entire race with her gender concealed and became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon. The next year, [Kathrine Switzer](http://kathrineswitzer.com/about-kathrine/1967-boston-marathon-the-real-story/) finished what Gibb started and ran the race as its first official female contestant. These pioneers opened the sport for women and shook up preconceptions about what women could accomplish. Today, people can run marathons in national parks, [alongside horses](http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/06/19/415501577/the-neighs-have-it-horse-outruns-man-but-just-barely) and even in [Pyongyang, North Korea](http://pyongyangmarathon.com/). Runners have access to gels, high-tech shoes and devices that measure their performance down to a fraction of a second. And [over 540,000 people finish a marathon each year](http://www.runningusa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.details&ArticleId=332&returnTo=annual-reports). So what’s the allure of the sport? For runners and spectators, it can still be summed up in four simple words: Will they make it? 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