50 free Marathon trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
41 free Marathon trivia questions with answers. Marathon trivia for runners, spectators and anyone who has ever wondered why the distance is such an odd number. These 50 questions start with the legend of Pheidippides and the first modern Olympic race in 1896, explain how a royal box in London fixed the distance at 42.195 km, and then run through the great races: Boston since 1897, New York's five boroughs, London's fancy-dress charity fields, Berlin's record-breaking flat course, Chicago, Tokyo and the World Marathon Majors. The people are here too: Spyridon Louis the water carrier, Dorando Pietri carried across the line, Emil Zátopek's Helsinki treble, Abebe Bikila barefoot in Rome, Kathrine Switzer and Bobbi Gibb breaking Boston's gender barrier, Rosie Ruiz's subway shortcut, Grete Waitz, Paula Radcliffe, Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59:40 in Vienna, Kelvin Kiptum's 2:00:35 and the women who have now gone under 2:10. Difficulty ranges from easy (where do you hit the wall?) to hard (which South American held the world record?), and every answer is verified against a documented source.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The official marathon distance is 42.195 kilometres. In miles, that is roughly what?
26.2
More than 800 marathons are held worldwide each year, most of them fields of recreational runners.
Q 02The 42.195 km distance was standardised by the IAAF in 1921 based on the course of which Olympic Games?
London 1908
That course ran from Windsor Castle to the White City Stadium and finished in front of the Royal Box.
Q 03The 1908 Olympic marathon started at which royal residence?
Windsor Castle
Organisers chose a 26-mile route to the stadium plus a lap of the track, which is where the extra 385 yards come from.
Q 04Which French philologist proposed an Olympic marathon for 1896, inspired by an ancient Greek story?
Michel Bréal
The marathon is the only running road race contested at both the Olympics and the World Championships.
Q 05Per Herodotus, Pheidippides ran from Athens to which city before the Battle of Marathon?
Sparta
That is about 240 km each way; the famous Marathon-to-Athens death run only appears in much later versions such as Lucian's and Robert Browning's poem.
Q 06Spyridon Louis, winner of the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896, made his living how?
As a water carrier
He was born in Marousi, north of Athens, and helped his father haul mineral water into a city with no central supply.
Q 07Dorando Pietri crossed the line first at the 1908 Olympic marathon but was disqualified. Why?
Officials had helped him to the finish
Queen Alexandra gave him a gilded silver cup in consolation, and Arthur Conan Doyle wrote up his collapse for the Daily Mail.
Q 08The Boston Marathon, first run in 1897, is traditionally held on which holiday?
Patriots' Day
It is the world's oldest annual marathon and was inspired by the 1896 Olympic race.
Q 09The Boston Marathon starts in which Massachusetts town?
Hopkinton
The course passes through eight cities and towns before finishing at Copley Square beside the Boston Public Library.
Q 10Who was the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon, in 1966, without an official number?
Bobbi Gibb
The B.A.A. now recognises her as the pre-sanctioned women's winner of 1966, 1967 and 1968.
Q 11Which race official tried to rip off Kathrine Switzer's bib at the 1967 Boston Marathon?
Jock Semple
She had entered as 'K.V. Switzer'; her boyfriend body-checked the official and she finished the race.
Q 12Rosie Ruiz was stripped of her 1980 Boston Marathon women's title after it emerged she had joined the course roughly where?
About half a mile from the finish
New York officials then found she had not run their whole 1979 race either, and disqualified her from that too.
Q 13How many people were killed by the two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon?
Three
Hundreds were injured; the devices went off 12 seconds and 210 yards apart near the finish line.
Q 21Which city's marathon became the newest of the original Marathon Majors when it launched in 2007?
Tokyo
It is run in February; Benson Kipruto's 2:02:16 in 2024 is the course record.
Q 22Eliud Kipchoge ran the marathon distance in 1:59:40 in October 2019 in which city?
Vienna
The Ineos 1:59 Challenge in the Prater park was not record-eligible; his official best is 2:01:09 from Berlin 2022.
Q 23Kelvin Kiptum's men's world record, set in Chicago in October 2023, was what time?
2:00:35
He died in a car crash in Kenya four months later, aged 24.
Ruth Chepngetich became the first woman under 2:10 in Chicago in 2024. What was her time?
Q 14How many runners finished the first New York City Marathon in 1970, run as loops of Central Park?
55
Fred Lebow and Vincent Chiappetta organised it for 127 starters and about 100 spectators; Gary Muhrcke won in 2:31:38.
Q 15Norway's Grete Waitz won the New York City Marathon women's race how many times?
Nine
In 1979 there she became the first woman to break two and a half hours; she took Olympic silver in 1984.
Q 16The first London Marathon in 1981 was founded by John Disley and which Olympic steeplechase champion?
Chris Brasher
The first men's race ended in a tie, with Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen crossing the line holding hands.
Q 17How many times had the men's marathon world record fallen in Berlin by the end of 2025?
Thirteen
The flat course produced Kipchoge's 2:01:09 in 2022 and Tigst Assefa's women's mark of 2:11:53 in 2023.
Q 18Which Brazilian became the only South American to hold the marathon world record, in Berlin in 1998?
Ronaldo da Costa
Three years later Naoko Takahashi ran the first women's sub-2:20 on the same course.
Q 19The modern Chicago Marathon began in 1977 under a name honouring which politician?
Mayor Richard J. Daley
It drew 4,200 runners that first year; only 1987 (half marathon only) and 2020 have interrupted it since.
Q 20The World Marathon Majors series began in which year?
2006
Sydney joined as the seventh race in 2025 and Cape Town was confirmed as the eighth for 2027.
2:09:56
Tigst Assefa's 2:11:53 in Berlin 2023 was the previous mark; Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 had stood from 2003 to 2019.
Q 25Paula Radcliffe's 2003 London world record, which stood for 16 years, was what time?
2:15:25
She won London three times and New York three times but never an Olympic medal.
Q 26Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon with what famous distinction?
He ran barefoot
His new shoes gave him blisters, so he ditched them; four years later in Tokyo he became the first to defend the title.
Q 27Emil Zátopek won the 5,000 m, 10,000 m and marathon at which Olympics, the marathon being his first?
Helsinki 1952
No one has repeated the treble; his wife Dana won javelin gold at the same Games.
Q 28The first Olympic women's marathon was held in 1984 in Los Angeles. Who won it?
Joan Benoit
She beat Waitz by 1 minute 26 seconds; 44 of the 50 starters finished.
Q 29At which Games did Frank Shorter win the 1972 Olympic marathon, helping launch the US running boom?
Munich
He was born in Munich to an American army doctor, so he won on the soil of his birthplace.
Q 30Which American won the 2014 Boston Marathon, the year after the bombing?
Meb Keflezighi
He was 38 and had also won New York in 2009 and Olympic silver in 2004.