THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT MARATHONS

RECORD HOLDER STEFAAN ENGELS RAN 365

MARATHONS IN 365 DAYS. WHEN HE WAS

YOUNGER HE WAS TOLD TO AVOID SPORTS

BECAUSE HE HAD ASTHMA

THE HEAVIEST PERSON TO EVER COMPLETE A

MARATHON WAS AMERICAN CHARLES BUNGERT.

HE WEIGHED 427 POUNDS (ALMOST 200 KG)

EVERY YEAR IN WALES THE MAN VS HORSE

MARATHON IS HELD WHERE COMPETITORS DO

EXACTLY AS IT SOUNDS…THEY RACE AGAINST

HORSES. IN THE PAST 10 YEARS HUMANS

HAVE WON ONLY TWICE

EDWARD PENA, ONE OF THE MINERS TRAPPED IN

CHILE IN 2010 TRAINED EVERYDAY WHILE HE

WAS UNDERGROUND FOR NEARLY 10 WEEKS.

HE FINISHED A MARATHON SHORTLY AFTER

BEING FREED

DURING THE FIRST IRONMAN, NAVY SEAL

JOHN DUNBAR LED FOR MOST OF THE RACE

BUT WHEN HIS CREW RAN OUT OF WATER,

THEY BEGAN GIVING HIM BEER. NOT

SURPRISINGLY, JOHN STARTED BUMPING INTO

CARS AND STUMBLING BUT HE STILL

MANAGED TO FINISH

TERRY FOX, A 21 YEAR OLD CANADIAN WHO

HAD LOST HIS LEG TO CANCER RAN ALL THE

WAY ACROSS CANADA IN ORDER TO RAISE

CANCER AWARENESS. HE DIED SHORTLY

AFTERWARDS WHEN THE CANCER

SPREAD TO HIS LUNGS

THE MODERN LENGTH OF A MARATHON

(26.2 MILES) WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE

1908 LONDON GAMES. BEFORE THAT,

MARATHONS VARIED IN THEIR DISTANCE

EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE BASED ON

THE RUN OF PHIDIPPIDES

IN 1977, WESLEY PAUL RAN THE NYC MARATHON

IN JUST OVER 3 HOURS. HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD