Aug 15, 2000

Last week's Commentary on why the marathon grew to 42.2 kilometers from its original 40-K led Max Jones to supply some background details. He's British, and since we have his country's royal family to thank for the extra distance, I'll let him review how it came to be.

"It was intended that the distance should be 40-K, but unhappily this landed the start in the the town of Windsor. No, said the local council and the constabulary, we can't close down the center of town just for your (stupid) run. You'll have to go somewhere else.

"The race director added on a bit to take the course around the town. That brought the start to a little way outside the walls of Windsor Castle, where the royals live when they are not in Buckingham Palace, Sandringham or Balmoral. Whereupon the princess royal, the elder daughter not the queen herself, asked if the start could be nearer the house so the grandchildren could watch it (from inside) if it were raining.

"Windsor Castle isn't your average suburban pad. Its drive is about a mile long. So that plus the detour insisted on by the police is how the course came to be the distance we now run."

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