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→The Modern Sport
==The Modern Sport==
With the introduction of the marathon as a new sport, it soon became popular as an event that was run outside of the Olympics. In 1897, the Boston Marathon began to be an annual event and today is one of six major world marathon events held where the world's top runners compete. The race is the oldest continuing marathon and has always run on Patriot's day. The holiday symbolizes the first battles of the American Revolution and thus the Boston Athletic Association, who runs the event, uses the date to tie the American struggle for freedom with that of the ancient Greeks.<ref>For more information on the history of the Boston Marathon, see: Derderian, Tom. 2014. ''Boston Marathon a Celebration of the World’s Premier Race''. Triumph Books. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1648811.</ref>
The race length was not standardized in its early history. The Olympics and other events ranged from 24-26 miles. The roughly 26.2 miles distance that now is standard became established by the 1908 London Olympics. Initially, the organizers wanted the race to run from Windsor Castle to the Olympic stadium, the old White City Stadium or Great Stadium. However, it was decided that, as the royal family was in the stadium, it would be good to have a final lap around the main track and then have the race finish. Although this happened for the 1908 Olympics, this length was still not standardized until 1921. By 1924, the Boston Marathon, which by now had emerged as the world's premier marathon running event outside of the Olympics, standardized the distance to conform with the 1908 Olympic length. This now led the way for all international marathon events by the 1920s to be the same length.<ref>For a history of the modern length of the marathon, see: Davis, David. 2012. <i>Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze</i>. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.</ref>
