The Polytechnic Marathon, often called the Poly, was a 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...

 held annually between 1909 and 1996, over various courses in or near London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. It was the first marathon to be run regularly over the distance of 26 miles, 385 yards which is now the global standard. A total of eight world marathon bests were set in the Poly, including the first authenticated time under 2 hours, 20 minutes which had been regarded as the marathon equivalent of the four-minute mile

Four-minute mile

In the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is the act of completing the mile run in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3:59.4. The 'four minute barrier' has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all male professional...

. At the time of its demise in 1996, the Poly was Europe’s oldest regular marathon. It had seen more world records and had been run over 42.195 kilometres (26.2 mi) more often than any other marathon.

Origin

The Polytechnic Marathon had its origins in the marathon of the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

, held in London. This race was organized by the Polytechnic Harriers

Polytechnic Harriers

The Polytechnic Harriers was founded by philanthropist Quintin Hogg in 1883. He was a firm believer in the health-giving and character-building qualities of sport. He also enjoyed taking part in them; especially playing football. He provided the facilities for a range of different sports and...

, the athletics club of the Regent Street Polytechnic

University of Westminster

The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...

 in London (now the University of Westminster

University of Westminster

The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...

). In those days, there was no set distance for the marathon; it was simply a long race, around 40 km (24.9 mi) in length. The Polytechnic Harriers decided to start the Olympic marathon in front of the Royal apartments at Windsor Castle and end it on the track at White City Stadium

White City Stadium

White City Stadium was built in White City, London, for the 1908 Summer Olympics, often seen as the precursor to the modern seater stadium and noted for hosting the finish of the first modern distance marathon. It also hosted speedway and a match at the 1966 World Cup, before the stadium was...

 in front of the Royal Box, a distance that turned out to be 26 miles, 385 yards.

There was immense public interest in the 1908 Olympic race, with its dramatic finish in which Dorando Pietri

Dorando Pietri

Dorando Pietri, often wrongly spelt Petri was an Italian athlete famous for his dramatic finish and eventual disqualification in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London.-Early years:Pietri was born in Mandrio, a frazione of Correggio, but spent his youth in Carpi...

 of Italy entered the stadium well clear of the field and staggered around the last lap to the finish line—only to be disqualified for receiving assistance. Building on this interest, The Sporting Life

Sporting Life (newspaper)

The Sporting Life was a British newspaper published between 1859 and 1998 that was best known for its coverage of horse racing. Latterly it has continued as a multi-sports website....

newspaper offered a magnificent trophyhttp://www.ianridpath.com/polymarathon/trophy.htm for an annual international marathon that would be second in importance only to the Olympic event itself. The Polytechnic Harriers were again asked to organize the event, and the Polytechnic Marathon was born.

Early races

The first Polytechnic Marathon was held on May 8, 1909. Henry Barrett

Henry Barrett

Henry Frederick "Harry" Barrett was a British long-distance runner who on May 8, 1909 set a world's best in only his second marathon with a time of 2:42:31 at the Polytechnic Marathon...

 won, followed by Fred Lord, and Harry Green

Harry Green

Henry Harold "Harry" Green was a British long-distance runner. He gained recognition by winning the London Poly in 1911 and setting a world's best in the marathon on 12 May 1913 with a time of 2:38:16.2 in London...

.

As with the Olympic race, the start was at Windsor Castle and the course was 26 miles, 385 yards; this distance was adopted as the international standard for marathons in 1924. (The older Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...

, founded in 1897, adopted the 42.195 kilometres (26.2 mi) distance in 1924, but was slightly short for the first three years and was shorter still from 1951–56http://www.bostonmarathon.org/BostonMarathon/Records.asp?records=permanent.)

Over the years, the route of the Poly Marathon varied. From 1909 until 1932, it ended at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge (stadium)

Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

 in west London; then in 1933, it moved back to the White City stadium, where the 1908 Olympic marathon had finished. From 1938, the race ended at the new Polytechnic Harriers stadium in Chiswick

Chiswick

Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...

, west London. It was on this course that Jim Peters

James Peters (athlete)

Jim Peters was a long-distance runner from England. He broke the world record for the men's marathon four times in the 1950s. He was the first runner to complete a marathon under 2 hours 20 minutes – an achievement which was equated to the breaking of the four minute mile...

, the greatest marathoner of his day, broke the 2 hours and 20 minutes barrier in 1953. Even more remarkably, remeasurement showed the course to have been about 150 yards too long.

In 1961, The Sporting Life withdrew its sponsorship, having ceased to report on athletics. A new sponsor was found in the form of confectionery company Callard and Bowser

Callard & Bowser-Suchard

Callard & Bowser is a division of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company that specializes in confectionery manufacture. It currently makes Altoids breath mints....

; and in the next few years, the race went from strength to strength, with a succession of world records (see table).

Decline and fall

By 1970, the Polytechnic Harriers and the Poly Marathon were in decline. Traffic problems made it difficult to continue with the Windsor-to-Chiswick route, and from 1973 until 1992, the race was restricted to the Windsor area. Performances declined, and so did the status of the Poly Marathon. With the introduction of mass marathons and big-money events elsewhere, the Poly Marathon could not compete.

There were organizational changes, too. In 1985, the Polytechnic Harriers merged with Kingston AC and moved in with them at Kingsmeadow Stadium in Kingston, Surrey. Some ex-Polytechnic Harriers remained at the Polytechnic sports ground in Hartington Road, Chiswick, where they formed a new club—West 4 Harriers—which was to become involved with the Polytechnic Marathon some years later.

Management of the race passed to the London Road Runners Club (LRRC) for 1986 and 1987, but the LRRC then folded. After a four-year gap, the race was revived in 1992 by Capital Road Runners (an even shorter-lived successor to LRRC) in conjunction with West 4 Harriers. A revised route was introduced, from Windsor to the Polytechnic stadium at Chiswick, recalling the event’s former glory days.

From 1993 to 1995, the Poly Marathon was organized by a group from West 4 Harriers. In 1996, responsibility passed to a commercial events organizer, but increased traffic and other difficulties made it impossible to keep the race going beyond 1996.
World records set in the Polytechnic Marathon

Date	Athlete	Time
1909 May 08 (see note 1)	Henry Barrett Henry Barrett Henry Frederick "Harry" Barrett was a British long-distance runner who on May 8, 1909 set a world's best in only his second marathon with a time of 2:42:31 at the Polytechnic Marathon...  (GBR)	2:42:31.0
1913 May 31	Alexis Ahlgren Alexis Ahlgren Alexis Malkolm Ahlgren was a Swedish long-distance runner who on May 31, 1913 set a world best of 2:36:06 at the Polytechnic Marathon. He competed in the men's marathon at the 1912 Summer Olympics but did not finish....  (SWE)	2:36:06.6
1952 June 14	Jim Peters James Peters (athlete) Jim Peters was a long-distance runner from England. He broke the world record for the men's marathon four times in the 1950s. He was the first runner to complete a marathon under 2 hours 20 minutes – an achievement which was equated to the breaking of the four minute mile...  (GBR)	2:20:42.2
1953 June 13	Jim Peters (GBR)	2:18:40.2 (see note 2)
1954 June 26	Jim Peters (GBR )	2:17:39.4
1963 June 15	Leonard “Buddy” Edelen Leonard Edelen Leonard Graves "Buddy" Edelen was an American marathoner. Based in England for most of his prime competitive years, in 1963 Edelen became the first man to run a marathon faster than 2 hours and 15 minutes when he set a world record of 2:14:28. Edelen also won the 1964 U.S...  (USA)	2:14:28
1964 June 13	Basil Heatley Basil Heatley Benjamin Basil Heatley was a British athlete, who mainly competed in the marathon. He was born in Kenilworth, Warwickshire....  (GBR)	2:13:55.0
1965 June 12	Morio Shigematsu Morio Shigematsu is a former Japanese long-distance runner who on June 12, 1965 set a world's best in the marathon with a time of 2:12:00 at the Polytechnic Marathon. Less than two months earlier, Shigematsu set a course record at the 1965 Boston Marathon .-Achievements:... (JPN)	2:12:00.0

Note 1: Date wrongly given as May 26 in some sources.
Note 2: Distance measured as 42.337 km.