Windsor Castle

Assembled from 9 blocks · 2 evidence · 4 related

1. Story
2. The royal residence in Berkshire from which the 1908 Olympic marathon started, and therefore the western end of the line that fixed the marathon distance. The popular account is that the start was pulled back beneath a nursery window so royal children could watch, adding the odd 385 yards. Research by Olympic historians has not supported it: nothing has been found in the royal archives, the surviving photograph shows royal children outside on the sloping lawn rather than at a window, and the start is placed on the East Terrace. What is documented is that the Olympic regulations specified a race of about 40 km and the organising Polytechnic Harriers laid out a course about two kilometres longer, confirming the change only shortly before the race.
3. Knowledge
4. Windsor Castle
5. Connections
6. The 1908 Olympic marathon fixes 26 miles 385 yards
7. Evidence
8. The 1908 start was on the East Terrace at Windsor Castle rather than beneath a royal nursery window, the royal children were photographed outside on the lawn, and Olympic historians including Bob Wilcox have found no archival support for the nursery-window explanation of the 385 yards. V55 verification basis: read through attributed search summaries of this page and of secondary coverage of Wilcox's research; neither the page nor the underlying study was retrieved.
9. The 1908 Olympic marathon was run on 24 July 1908 from Windsor to the White City Stadium over 26 miles 385 yards, with 55 starters from 16 nations and 27 finishers; Dorando Pietri was disqualified and Johnny Hayes won. V55 verification basis: the Olympedia result page was identified through search and its substance read in summary; the database entry itself was not retrieved.