Thursday, October 09, 2008

Thursday Thirteen: The Marathon


Our humans are running the Munich Marathon on Sunday. In honour of this fact, we bring you:

13 Things About the Marathon

  1. A Marathon is 26.2 miles / 42.2 kilometres. Other races may call themselves "marathons" but an official marathon race is this distance.

  2. This will be our humans' third marathon together. They ran their first in the Fall of 2005, the Prince Edward County Marathon, their second was the Hamburg Marathon in April 2007. Our dad has also run one marathon by himself, the Munich Marathon last October (2007).

  3. The name, "marathon", comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city he collapsed dead from exhaustion.

  4. The modern marathon was first run during the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This first Olympic marathon was 40 km (24.85 miles). It was an Olympic race for men only until 1984.

  5. The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA).

  6. The length of a marathon was at first not fixed since all that was important was that all athletes competed on the same course. The exact length of an Olympic marathon varied depending on the route established for each venue so the choice of distance was somewhat arbitrary.

  7. The marathon at the 1908 Olympic Games in London was set to measure exactly 26 miles and to start on ‘The Long Walk’ – a magnificent avenue in the grounds of Windsor Castle. At his own request it was scheduled to be started by King Edward VII personally. It was only on the day before the race that it was extended by 385 yards from its set 26 miles so that the King could start the race in the Great Courtyard of the Castle (385 yards up the hill) and so that the runners would cross the finish line in front of his wife Queen Alexandra in the Royal family's viewing box in the Olympic Arena - so the length became 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards).

  8. A fixed distance of 42.195 km was adopted in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) as the official marathon distance.

  9. The world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia on September 28, 2008.

  10. The world record for women was set by Paula Radcliffe of United Kingdom in the London Marathon on 13 April 2003, in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

  11. In 2007, in the U.S.A. (the only country we could find statistics for) there were more than 407,000 marathon finishers.

  12. 0ver 12,000 runners are expected to participate in the Munich Marathon this year.

  13. We wish our humans all the best on Sunday! Good luck mom and dad!

24 comments

Memories of Eric and Flynn said...

Good luck to your (very fit) humans.

Anonymous said...

We wish your humans much success!

Puss-in-Boots said...

All the best to your humans, guys. Our mum doesn't do things like that...but she does go for a walk in the mornings with a couple of the neighbours...she says it sets her up for the rest of the day.

Parker said...

I learned a lot today! Please wish your Mom and Dad a lot of luck for me!

Ramses said...

Gosh I think you need a rest now!

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

Wow, your beans must be in great shape. Good luck to them. ~S,S & C

Anonymous said...

Oh you guyz are so very lucky to have such healthy Mommas and Daddas! :)

MEGA GOOD LUCK Momma and Dadda of Merlin and Dragonheart!!!

The Meezers or Billy said...

good luck to your mom and dad!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wishing your humans good luck in the marathon...Hugs Ariel

Chrissie said...

Good luck and drink lots of water! We're walkers over here, although, in mom's youth she was a runner..aah, for the days when 10 miles was just a warm-up!

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

*whew*
I'm tired from just reading about marathons...

purrs,Abby

Good luck to your Mom and Dad!

The Furry Kids said...

We wish them the best, too! They've been working so hard to prepare. We can't wait to hear all about it.

Gemini and Ichiro said...

That was very informative, but I have decided I am not going to run a marathon. I'm tired just reading about it...

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

We're all sending your people the very best wishes for Sunday!

Anonymous said...

I still think your humans are insane... but good luck to them on their run!

Anonymous said...

And yea we can finally post a comment. Your blog hasn't liked us for a few days.

Angel Junior, Orion and Sammy said...

WOW!!! Those are some interseting facts!!

Good luck to your beans!!

Daisy said...

Good luck to your humans! I am going to nap now.

jenianddean said...

Good luck ... that's an awful long way, and I think I'd need a few naps during the marathon if it were me.
--Jasper

Unknown said...

Good luck to yer beans, we hopes they do furry well!

Us4 Cats said...

that is pawsome. our maw bean would like to run in one some day. right now her knee is twisted and she is outta commission on the couch till it heals and she can get back out poundn the pavement.

have fun!!!! remember to breth.

-wlk

Babs (Beetle) said...

We wish you all the best for the marathon!

Purrs. Sukie x

The Devil Dog said...

12,000? Wow! We hope you beans don't get trampled! Tell your mom that our mom is rooting for her and will be there in spirit (certainly not in the flesh!)Tell your dad we think he is so sweet running at your mom's pace.

Thanks for those great facts.

Roxy & Lucky

Mickey's Musings said...

That was some pawsome information on marathons!!!!
Big Purrs to your Mom & Dad!!!
Purrs Mickey