Polytechnic marathon

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Started in 1967 at
Windsor Castle

The Polytechnic Marathon (colloquially The Poly , full name Polytechnic Harriers Marathon ) was a marathon that was held in England from 1909 to 1996 on a route between Windsor and London , with the goal varied over the years. After the Boston Marathon and the Yonkers Marathon , it is the third oldest marathon that has been held regularly over a long period of time. With 78 official events, it is one of the five most frequent marathon events worldwide. Up until now, no other marathon has achieved more world best times.

history

The origin of this run goes back to the marathon of the Olympic Games in London in 1908 . Several road runs were held to nominate the UK's best runners , one of which received special attention. The Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club, a prestigious sports club of the University of Westminster , then called the Regent Street Polytechnic , held a 22.5 mile (36 km) run from Windsor to Wembley Park on April 25, 1908 . Impressed by the perfect execution, the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games decided that the club should also take over the organization of the Olympic marathon.

For the Olympic marathon, a route was chosen that was similar to the preparatory run and led from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium, the White City Stadium . With the surveying methods of the time, a route length of exactly 42.195 km was achieved. The 1908 Games marathon turned out to be dramatic. The winner was the American John Hayes , but only because the first runner at the finish, the Italian Dorando Pietri , was subsequently disqualified for improper assistance on the last meters.

Because of its drama, the run received a lot of public attention and sympathy. The popular sports magazine Sporting Life took this as an opportunity to host a run that corresponded to that of the Olympic Games. The Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club was once again entrusted with the organization . The start at Windsor Castle and the route length of 42.195 km remained the same, only the finish was moved to Stamford Bridge Stadium . On May 8, 1909, this marathon was the first official Polytechnic Marathon. The Briton Henry Barrett won the race in 2:42:31 h, which was classified as the new world record.

In the second year, 1910, the race was canceled because of the death of King Edward VII . The race was also canceled from 1915 to 1918 because of the First World War .

Bobby Mills, 1923 poly winner

From 1933 to 1937 the finish was in the White City Stadium, so the route again corresponded to the course of the Olympic marathon of 1908.

After the Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club built a new stadium in Chiswick in 1938 , the goal was moved here. Nothing changed until 1972. In the years of the Second World War , however, for safety reasons, only one circuit was completed, which was held in 1940 in the park at Windsor Castle and from 1941 to 1945 in Chiswick.

With increasing car traffic, problems arose for the organizers in carrying out this marathon, which was held on public roads. In 1973 it was therefore decided to limit the run to the area around Windsor. When the historical route changed, the run lost its attraction. In 1975 the race had to be canceled due to financial difficulties. With the first official participation of women in 1978 one regained some hope.

After the 1985 event, the Polytechnic Harriers Athletic Club disbanded and the organization passed into the hands of the London Road Runners Club . But by 1988 the club was no longer able to keep the Polytechnic Marathon going. The run was canceled for the next four years. In 1992, a group of running enthusiasts from the former organizers attempted to re-establish the Polytechnic Marathon on the historic Windsor to Chiswick route. Despite the involvement of a commercial organizer, the financial and organizational difficulties could not be overcome. The last official Polytechnic Marathon took place on September 22, 1996.

Some stalwart runners did not want to accept the final end of the historically significant marathon and completed an unofficial run from Windsor to Chiswick from 1997 to 1999 and 2002, but their enthusiasm also ended in resignation.

particularities

  • To the present day, the Polytechnic Marathon is the oldest and most frequent marathon that was held over the usual distance of 42.195 km (the Boston Marathon and Yonkers Marathon were shorter in the early years.)
  • The Polytechnic Marathon is one of the few sporting events in Europe that was held annually despite the Second World War .
  • In 1972 the run had a length of approximately 47 km because the lead vehicle got a defect and the runners were misdirected.
  • The Polytechnic Marathon held nine national marathon championships for men and one national championship for women.

statistics

World best times

Samuel Ferris, record winner at the Polytechnic Marathon

The International Athletics Federation, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), kept a list of unofficial world record times in marathon running until January 1, 2004. Only then were world best times and world records officially recognized by the IAAF, after course standards had been set that are a prerequisite for recognition to this day. The route of the Polytechnic Marathon did not always meet these standards in all points. If the start and finish are separated, the distance between the two points measured on a theoretical direct connection line should not be more than 50% of the route distance (IAAF rule 260.28.b). In a marathon this would be 21 km. The rule is intended to prevent running predominantly in one direction, which could possibly have been beneficial through wind support (tail wind).

For the marathons held before January 1, 2004, the IAAF waived a retrospective application of these route standards and did not change the list of unofficial world best times. The Association of Road Running Statisticians (ARRS), on the other hand, only evaluates two of the eight times in the Polytechnic Marathon included in the IAAF's best list as world best times.

IAAF list of unofficial world best times at the Polytechnic Marathon:

Course records

Most wins

Winners list

Given the great importance of the event in the early years, the list of winners contains numerous important top runners. After 1965, the winners were predominantly British runners with little or no international reputation.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ arrs.run: World Best Progressions - Road
  2. ↑ Mark Butler (Ed.): IAAF Statistics Handbook - 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Berlin 2009. ( Memento from October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) IAAF Media & Public Relations Department, 2009, p. 565 (PDF; 4, 77 MB)