Dorando Pietri is yards from the finish line of the London Olympic Marathon. From achieving a victory which years of training has prepared him for.

But everything is about to change.

The year is 1908 and as Pietri (pictured above in the race) approaches London’s White City Stadium, roared on by 100,000 spectators, he staggers. Then collapses.

In a scene played out in brutal slow-motion, the Italian rose and fell again five more times. Helped up on each occasion, he eventually lurched over the line in first place.

But the assistance Pietri had received to get across the line meant that victory was short-lived. Disqualification followed, with American Johnny Hayes taking the gold medal. Pietri, meanwhile, became something of a celebrity, with the UK’s Queen Alexandra giving him a cup for his valour and Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, raising £300 – about £40,000 in today’s money – for him.

If all that sounds dramatic enough, it is only the start of the story.

That incredible race was the first time the Olympic marathon had been run over what is now the famed 26 miles and 385 yards distance. Previously, the event had taken place over a loose 25-mile distance.

It wasn’t until 100 years later that a story in the Daily Telegraph revealed the course that day had been remeasured and was found to be 174 yards (159 metres) short. The man who made the ‘discovery’ was John Disley, the co-founder of the modern-day London Marathon.

Disley said the problem had been caused by the starting position of the 1908 race at Windsor Castle, which had been switched at the last moments from the Long Walk to the Eastern Terrace.

Many marathon runners were shocked by the finding, which suggested the distance they’d come to know and in some twisted way ‘love,’ was predicated on a lie. One, Joe Neanor, was so horrified he set out to prove Disley wrong.

Neanor investigated the 1908 course, but no-one seemed to be able to pinpoint the exact start beyond a vague report which said it began ‘near the East Terrace, 700 yards from Queen Victoria’s statue’.

He didn’t give in though and was rewarded when he found an image in the Illustrated London News which revealed the start location – thanks to the presence there of the Royal children, Princess Mary and the future King George VI.

He enlisted the help of 1989 London Marathon winner, Hugh Jones, a professional course measurer, and after gaining access to Windsor Castle with the help of no less than a figure than King Charles, the pair started to measure the course.

The result? Neanor had been correct and the course really had measured that vital 26 miles and 385 yards.

The finding won’t help poor Dorando Pietri, who in all cases fell desperately short of a famous victory, but at least we can be confident we’ve all been running the correct distance since!

Whatever distance you want to race over, Go Beyond Challenge has something for you. Check out our event calendar here.