Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon

The men's marathon event was a special race invented as part of the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. Michel Bréal originated the idea of a race from the city of Marathon to Athens, taking inspiration from the legend of Pheidippides. The first such marathon race was a Greek national competition that served as a qualifier for the Olympic marathon; the qualifier was won by Charilaos Vasilakos. The length of the marathon in 1896 was 40 kilometres (25 mi).

Twenty-five athletes traveled to Marathon for the race from there to Athens, though only seventeen actually began the race. Just as in the 1500 metre race, Albin Lermusiaux took the lead early. Edwin Flack and Arthur Blake maintained the second and third places until Blake dropped out at 23 kilometres. At 32 kilometres, Lermusiaux dropped out as well, leaving Flack in the lead. That lead was not secure, however, as Spyridon Louis was making full use of his endurance to gain slowly on Flack.

Exhausted from trying to maintain his pace, Flack dropped out of the race with about three kilometres left. Louis was left alone at the front, finishing the 40 kilometre race in slightly less than 3 hours. Vasilakos finished second, followed closely by Spyridon Belokas and Gyula Kellner. Kellner lodged a protest stating that Belokas had covered part of the course by carriage; the protest was upheld, and Belokas was disqualified.