The Long Race Called the Marathon

A marathon is a very long running race. Runners go about forty-two kilometres. That is a long way, and many people train for months before the big day.

The exact distance has a funny story. At the London Olympic Games in nineteen oh eight, the race started near a castle and finished in a big stadium. The organisers made the race forty-two point one nine five kilometres, so it ended in front of the king and queen.

People liked that distance very much. In nineteen twenty-one, it became the official length for all marathons. Today, runners all over the world run the same distance, and they remember that day in London.