Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

This was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The field was strong. Sweden and the United States each entered full 12-man teams; the American team included 1911 Boston Marathon winner Clarence DeMar, 1912 Boston winner Michael J. Ryan, and 1908 Olympic bronze medalist Joseph Forshaw. Great Britain had 1909 Polytechnic winner Henry Barrett and 6 of the 8 finishers in the 1912 Polytechnic. Canada sent the winner of that 1912 Polytechnic, James Corkery. South Africa had the runner-up, Christian Gitsham, as well as Ken McArthur, who had won three marathons in South Africa.[3]

Japan, Norway, Portugal, and Serbia each made their first appearance in Olympic marathons. The United States made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed in each Olympic marathon to that point.

As all marathons, the competition was a single race. The course for the race was 40.2 kilometres long, which was more akin to the 1896 (40 km), 1900 (40.26 km), and 1904 (40 km) courses than the previous 1908 course (42.195 km) which would become standard.

It was "the first time the Olympic marathon was conducted as an out-and-back race." The course started at the stadium, went to the town of Sollentuna, and came back.[3]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in hours) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record	Thure Johansson (SWE)	2:51:23.6	Stockholm, Sweden	31 August 1909
Olympic record	Johnny Hayes (USA)	2:55:18.4	London, United Kingdom	24 July 1908

The distance was nearly two kilometres shorter;[4] nevertheless, Ken McArthur's winning time is registered as an Olympic record.

Specific

General

• Bergvall, Erik, ed. (1913). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Translated by Adams-Ray, Edward. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved January 3, 2007.