Athletics
26.2 miles — Boston, London, and Olympic searches. This page has 50 important questions and answers.
A marathon is 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). City majors (Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and others in the Abbott Wanda Majors series) are mass races plus elites. The Olympic marathon is a championship race on a Games course.
A half marathon is 21.0975 km. “Ultra” means longer than a marathon. Records on aided downhill or pacemaker-heavy courses have extra labels — World Athletics explains which marks count.
50 important questions. Quick 10 is a random set; Full set plays every question.
Original explainers for English readers — not copied match reports or official papers. Tap a question to see the answer.
Answer: 42.195 km
26.2 miles in imperial talk.
Answer: half that distance (21.0975 km)
Many first-timers start here.
Answer: a championship race at the Games
Courses differ every host city.
Answer: pacemakers for record attempts
Championship races are usually tactical, not time-trials.
Answer: a major marathon with a downhill stretch and strict qualifying
BQ times are a whole search category.
Answer: your fastest official time at that distance
Net time vs gun time matters in mass races.
Answer: longer than 42.195 km
50 km and 100 km are common.
Answer: a sprint 100 m
Sprints and marathons share a stadium only at the Games festival, not the distance.
Answer: city races such as London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, and Boston
The series list can add or brand events.
Answer: from the starter to the finish for that wave
Elites start at the front.
Answer: from when you cross the start mat to the finish mat
Mass races publish both.
Answer: carry a label that blocks some records
World Athletics explains which marks count.
Answer: official fluid points on the course
Elites grab their own bottles.
Answer: slower and more tactical than paced city records
Sit and kick is a tactic.
Answer: a time standard to enter Boston, not an Olympic gold
Standards move; check the BAA.
Answer: a separate elite category at many majors
It has its own records and rules.
Answer: set by the host, measured to the standard distance
Hills and weather become the story.
Answer: did not finish
Dropping out is allowed; the result is DNF.
Answer: Olympic athletics road event
It sits on the WA/IOC programme.
Answer: a fast, flat record-friendly course in many years
Records still need WA conditions.
Answer: similar times each 5 km or 10 km
Positive splits fade late.
Answer: the imperial way to say 42.195 km
The yards are the famous extra.
Answer: the World Athletics Championships marathon by itself
Worlds are a title meet.
Answer: masters or category prizes in mass races
Elites have a separate pot.
Answer: mats and a transponder, not a photo-finish torso for the mass field
Elites still get a finish-line camera too.
Answer: separate races or waves with separate records
Programmes differ by host.
Answer: not a standard stat people chase
PB is the one on the fridge.
Answer: accurate to WA/AIMS standards for records
The Jones counter is folklore.
Answer: a photo-finish torso rule as in the 100 m as the main story
Minutes separate people, not thousandths.
Answer: a major city race, not the Premier League
It sits in the Majors set.
Answer: jargon for a late glycogen crash, not a Law
Nutrition is the usual tip.
Answer: meet WA course and doping rules
Aided labels exist.
Answer: a Diamond League track 5000 m
Different event, different tactics.
Answer: mass fields go off in waves
Your gun time depends on the wave.
Answer: one of the Abbott Wanda Major cities in the modern set
Confirm the current series list.
Answer: an ultra relative to the marathon
It is longer than 42.195 km.
Answer: separate lists
WA publishes both.
Answer: a 20th-century Olympic story, not a T20 rule
42.195 km is now the definition.
Answer: drop out when their job ends; they are not the champion
The winner is who finishes first among those racing the title.
Answer: certified course measurers under WA/AIMS rules
The certificate is part of ratification.
Answer: 42.195 kilometres
That is the standard marathon.
Answer: 21.0975 km
Not “almost a marathon.”
Answer: Heartbreak Hill in the Newton stretch
Qualifying times are a separate cult.
Answer: pacemakers for part of the race
They usually step off before the end.
Answer: can get a record label that is not a standard WR
World Athletics explains the tags.
Answer: a road race on a city course, not 26 laps of a track 400 m only
Men and women have separate races.
Answer: did not finish
Drop out, get help, do not be a hero in the heat.
Answer: are part of championship and major-race logistics
Hit them or cramp.
Answer: running the second half faster than the first
Even pacing is the textbook.
Answer: an ultra by definition — ultras are longer
Comrades is another beast.
Pick the next article in this topic — that is how a magazine issue is meant to be used.
