Q 01/05

Roughly how many miles long is a full marathon?

A) 6.2

B) 13.1

C) 26.2

D) 52.4

Answer · why

C) 26.2

26.2 miles is longer than the legend it honours: the ancient messenger's run from Marathon to Athens is put at only about 25 miles.

Q 02/05

The marathon's oddly precise distance comes from a course that ended before the royal box at which Olympic Games?

A) Athens 1896

B) London 1908

C) Stockholm 1912

D) London 1948

Answer · why

B) London 1908

London 1908 was a one-off at first: the 1912 and 1920 Olympic marathons used other lengths, and the 1908 figure was not fixed as the standard until th...

Q 03/05

The Olympic marathon that fixed the race's modern distance started at which royal residence?

A) Buckingham Palace

B) Hampton Court

C) Windsor Castle

D) Kensington Palace

Answer · why

C) Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle's private East Terrace hosted the start, and the royal children, among them the future George VI, came out to watch the runners set off...

Q 04/05

Fred Lorz crossed the line first in the 1904 Olympic marathon after covering about ten miles of it how?

A) On a bicycle

B) Riding in a car

C) On horseback

D) Aboard a streetcar

Answer · why

B) Riding in a car

Riding in a car got Lorz about ten miles down the course before it broke down and he jogged in to cheers. His lifetime ban was lifted, and he won the ...

Q 05/05

Per Herodotus, Pheidippides ran from Athens to which city before the Battle of Marathon?

A) Corinth

B) Thebes

C) Delphi

D) Sparta

Answer · why

D) Sparta

Sparta was where Pheidippides ran to seek help before the fighting; the famous dying dash from Marathon to Athens is a separate, later story that beca...