1904 Olympic Marathon - History Dispatches

What this episode covers

The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis was one of the oddest moments in the sport’s history. Officials ran the race during the hottest part of the day and purposely limited the water the 32 participants could have. Men would ride in cars for the part of the race, get chased by wild dogs, become violently ill, and suffer hallucinations. One man even fell unconscious and nearly died. This is the story of the 1904 Men’s Olympic Marathon. Sources https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-1904-marathon-became-one-of-the-weirdest-olympic-events-of-all-time-14910747/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_marathon Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marathon_Hicks1904.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode is 15 minutes long.

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This episode was published on August 4, 2025.

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The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis was one of the oddest moments in the sport’s history. Officials ran the race during the hottest part of the day and purposely limited the water the 32 participants could have. Men would...

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