Athletic Training

CHAPTER IX THE MARATHON RUN THE revival of the Olympic games is re– sponsible for the great interest taken through– out this country in Marathon running on the part of amateurs. In the early days of our athletic history, professionals indulged in these long runs, frequently competing in dis– tances greater than the Marathon. But the amateurs have taken it up only since it was made such a feature of the Olympic games revived at Athens in 1896. Marathon run– ning became a craze in this country in the fall of 1908, after Johnny Hayes had won the Marathon run at the Olympic games held in London that summer. That race was one of the most remarkable and sensational contests in the world's history, and being won by an American naturally aroused great interest in this sort of long-distance work. When I saw to what extent the Marathon 77