The very first Olympic games, held in Greece in 776 BC, comprised only one sport: running. Athletics was held in the first modern Olympiad in 1896 and has continued its presence ever since.
Marathon
While planning the 1896 Olympics the organisers hoped to incorporate an event which specifically recalled the culture of ancient Greece, and it was agreed that the best solution would be to recreate, as a race, the run from Marathon to Athens by the messenger Pheidippides in 490BC. The world's first marathon for nearly 2,500 years therefore took place in Greece in 1896. The modern marathon quickly established itself as a popular event.
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The contestants at the start line of the 1909 Ramsey to Huntingdon marathon
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The finishing line at Hinchingbrooke Park in Huntingdon
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In 1909, only 13 years after the marathon race had been invented, a marathon was run between the towns of Ramsey and Huntingdon. The race was started at 2.00 pm from Ramsey Church by Lord de Ramsey, and continued through Warboys, St Ives and Godmanchester, eventually finishing in Hinchingbrooke Park in Huntingdon. According to the programme (acc 3539) fifteen competitors took part in the race. The marathon was run in aid of Huntingdon County Hospital.
The distance was slightly less than the modern marathon race distance, but it should be noted that in 1909 the definition of 'marathon distance' had yet to be finalised. The modern definition of 26.22 miles was only agreed in 1928.
Cambridgeshire Amateur Athletics Association
A branch of the Amateur Athletics Association was set up in Cambridgeshire in 1925. Arthur Marshall, reserve for the British Team in the 4 x 400m at the 1924 Olympics and founder of Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge was Treasurer. The rules of the Association make it very clear that good sportsmen should 'play the game for the game's sake'.
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Rules of the Cambridgeshire Amateur Athletics Association. (Cambridgeshire Archives:(R81/106.)
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