The 1904 St Louis Olympics: A Marathon Event

Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell romp through history, unravelling fascinating and down-right bizarre events.

This time; the five month-long 1904 Olympic Games which was a catalogue of failures and unbelievably poor decisions. This included restricting liquids during the marathon, one of the runners stopping to practise his english and wild dogs chasing the athletes.

It’s an incredible story so make sure those shoelaces are tied and your nipples are Vaselined.

• “Every four years, as a nation, we pick one event we’re experts in, like the Olympic Slalom.” – Angela Barnes
• “41 runners signed up for the marathon, but only 32 turned up.” – John O’Farrell
• “To be fair, John, we’ve all done it. I’ve signed up for so many races.” – Angela Barnes

Reading list:

The Wildest Race Ever - The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon - Meghan McCarthy

Marathon 1904, a standup show by Nic Sampson

We Are History is written and presented by Angela Barnes and John O’Farrell. Audio production by Simon Williams and artwork by James Parrett. Lead Producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor is Andrew Harrison. We Are History is a Podmasters Production.

https://twitter.com/wearehistorypod

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