How Long Is A Marathon

Whether you’re an accomplished distance runner with a goal of completing several marathons in a year, or just starting to contemplate a marathon training programme, running a marathon stands as a badge of honor and achievement. Running a marathon is an hours-long battle of man over miles.

How Long Is A Marathon Run In Miles

Today’s marathon distance is exactly 26 miles and 385 yards long; this is the official distance prescribed by the IAAF (International Association of Athletic Federations,) and they require that the distance be measured using a bicycle calibration method to make sure that it is exact. The first marathon run in modern Olympic history, which was created in tribute to the legendary run from Marathon to Athens during
the Greco-Persian war, was only approximately twenty five miles long, the distance that the historical run was estimated to be. Various marathons run during that early period were approximations of 25 or 26 miles, with no specific measurement used because the runners were competing against one another rather than competing to break a time record.

The official distance that is in use today was not ratified by the IAAF until 1921, but was based on the marathon distance that was run in the 1908 Summer Olympics, held in London. The distance at that Olympics was originally set to measure 26 miles plus another 700 yards in order to have the runners finish in front of the Royal Family’s viewing box, but because of complications with access to the entrance to the stadium, the final lap direction was reversed and the race was subsequently shortened by a few hundred yards. The distance that was run during the 1908 Summer Olympics has been used as the official marathon distance ever since.

How Long Is A Marathon In Meters

For runners considering training for a marathon, the considerations go far beyond adopting a healthy marathon diet and finding the best marathon training plan. The 42,195 meter distance, eight and a half times the 5K run they may do with their friends on Saturday afternoons, can be daunting.

Although the world record holders in the marathon complete the race in just over two hours, recreational runners set themselves goals of completing the race in less than four or five hours. The trick to the marathon distance is not only in physical strength and endurance training for the high mileage, but also in the runner’s mental approach. Although many try to distract themselves with music or by observing the race surroundings and their fellow runners, the most successful marathon runners break the long-distance-run down into smaller mental pieces such as two and a half ten-mile runs, or ten two-and-a-half mile runs that feel more manageable.

Experienced runners trying to achieve a specific race pace also use this trick to keep track of their split times, all the while monitoring the way they are feeling and adjusting their exertion level in order to insure that they don’t exhaust themselves long before the run is over.

How Long Is A Marathon Swim

The marathon run is a strictly prescribed, 26.2 mile distance, but marathon swims are more loosely defined as ultra-long-distance races in open water. In marathon swims the distance is less important than the swimmers’ performances against each other; the challenge lies in the swimming environments, which change based not just on distance, but on wind, currents, tides and temperature; for example, a race in warm water will yield slower times than a race in cooler water.