The men's marathon event was a special race invented as part of the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics

At the 1896 Summer Olympics, twelve athletics events were contested. All of the events except the marathon were held in the Panathinaiko Stadium, which was also the finish for the marathon. Events were held on 6 April, 7 April, 9 April, and 10 April 1896 . 64 athletes, all men, from ten nations...

 programme. Michel Bréal

Michel Bréal

"Breal" redirects here. For the Rapper see B-RealMichel Jules Alfred Bréal , French philologist, was born at Landau in Rhenish Bavaria. He is often identified as a founder of modern semantics....

 originated the idea of a race from the city of Marathon

Marathon, Greece

Marathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. The tumulus or burial mound for the 192 Athenian dead that was erected near the battlefield remains a feature of the coastal plain...

 to Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, taking inspiration from the legend of Pheidippides

Pheidippides

Pheidippides , hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.-The story:...

. The first such marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 race was a Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 national competition that served as a qualifier for the Olympic marathon; the qualifier was won by Kharilaos Vasilakos

Kharilaos Vasilakos

Charilaos Vasilakos was a Greek athlete, and the first man to win a marathon race. He also won a silver medal at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.He was born in Tripoli.On March 10, 1896, Greece held the first modern Panhellenic Games...

. The length of the marathon in 1896 was 40 kilometres (24.9 mi).

Twenty-five athletes traveled to Marathon for the race from there to Athens, though only seventeen actually began the race. Just as in the 1500 metre race, Albin Lermusiaux

Albin Lermusiaux

Albin Lermusiaux was a French athlete and shooter. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Lermusiaux won his preliminary heat of the 800 metres with a time of 2:16.6. This qualified him to compete in the final, but Lermusiaux chose not to do so.In the 1,500 metres, which was run in a...

 took the lead early. Edwin Flack and Arthur Blake maintained the second and third places until Blake dropped out at 23 kilometres. At 32 kilometres, Lermusiaux dropped out as well, leaving Flack in the lead. That lead was not secure, however, as Spyridon Louis was making full use of his endurance to gain slowly on Flack.

Exhausted from trying to maintain his pace, Flack dropped out of the race with about three kilometres left. Louis was left alone at the front, finishing the 40 kilometre race in slightly less than 3 hours. Vasilakos finished second, followed closely by Spyridon Belokas and Gyula Kellner

Gyula Kellner

Gyula Kellner was a Hungarian athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Kellner was one of 17 athletes to start the marathon race...

. Kellner lodged a protest stating that Belokas had covered part of the course by carriage; the protest was upheld, and Belokas was disqualified.

Results

Place	Athlete	Time
1		2:58:50
2		3:06:03
3		3:06:35
4		Unknown
5		Unknown
6		Unknown
7		Unknown
8		Unknown
9		Unknown
–		DNF (37 km)
		DNF (32 km)
		DNF (24 km)
		DNF (24 km)
		DNF (23 km)
		DNF (9 km)
		DNF
DISQ		3:06:30