A: If you paid any attention in your 10th grade history class, you probably know the original story of the marathon: Some Greek guy ran for about 20 miles from the city of Marathon to neighboring Athens, whereupon he gasped, "Nike," and promptly died. (That wasn't an early form of product placement, just the Greek word for "victory").

You might not know, however, that at the first modern Olympics in 1896, the marathon distance was actually set at 24.85 miles (40 kilometers). So why is it 26.2 today? To please the King of England, of course! In the 1908 London Olympics, the distance was lengthened to 26 miles so the course could go from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, and then lengthened another 385 yards so the race could finish right in front of King Edward's VII's stadium box. Now you know whose name to curse when staggering those last miserable marathon steps!