The 1904 Olympic Marathon Disaster
How did runners survive this race?
4.4 (22)
43 mins
Discover the bizarre 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis, a race plagued by extreme heat, dust, poor road conditions, and questionable race management. Explore how runners collapsed, dropped out, and struggled through conditions that pushed the event far beyond a normal athletic competition.
Ep 1:
The Circus Steals the Olympics
Before a single runner laced up, Saint Louis hijacked the Olympics from Chicago, buried them beneath a sprawling World's Fair, and staged a chilling human zoo alongside the Games.
Ep 2:
Welcome to Hell: Building the Worst Race Ever
Meet the runners and the man who engineered their suffering: a scorching course, a single water stop, dust-choked roads, and the first casualties of a race designed to break bodies.
Ep 3:
The Mailman, the Peaches, and a Joyride
A broke Cuban mailman hitchhikes to glory while napping mid-race, and a cocky bricklayer takes an eleven-mile joyride that nearly steals him an undeserved gold medal.
Ep 4:
Rat Poison, Gold, and Ghosts of Glory
As rat poison and brandy carry one man to a hollow victory, the marathon's brutal toll forces the Olympics to reckon with its survival—and its strange, chaotic future.
Discussions (5)
Rufus
Level 5 · 5 days agoCalling Lorz's car ride a 'practical joke' is way too generous. Dude literally let Alice Roosevelt almost crown him. That's not a prank, that's fraud with extra steps.
Ray
Level 10 · 5 days agoStrychnine was real stimulant back then?
Thornton
Level 10 · 5 days agoFelix lost all his money in craps, hitchhiked 600 miles, napped in an orchard mid-race and still finished 4th. Most relatable Olympian of all time.
