The 1904 Olympic Marathon: Rat Poison, Brandy, and the Most Chaotic Race Ever Run
In the summer heat of 1904, thirty-two men set off to run a marathon over dusty St. Louis roads with a single water stop. One rode in a car. One napped after eating rotten apples. The winner was carried across the line, poisoned by his own trainers with a dose of strychnine. It remains the strangest race in Olympic history.