What is the official distance of a marathon, expressed in metres?
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Answer
About 42,195 metres
The odd distance dates from the 1908 London Olympics, where the course was laid out from Windsor Castle to the royal box in the stadium.
How to estimate it
The marathon is defined in imperial units: 26 miles and 385 yards. A mile is 1,609 m, so 26 miles is 26 × 1,609 = 41,834 m. A yard is 0.914 m, so 385 yards add 352 m. 41,834 + 352 = 42,186 m with these rounded factors, and exact conversion gives the official figure of 42,195 metres.
Source: World Athletics
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