The Origin of Weird: 1904 Olympic Marathon
What happens when a world-stage marathon is staged like a dare? We head back to the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis and trace a course lined with heat, dust, and a shocking lack of common sense. With temperatures near 90 degrees, one lonely water stop, and cars belching dust into runners’ faces, the race becomes a case study in how bad science and thin rules can turn sport into survival.
We break down the pivotal moments that made this marathon infamous: Fred Lorz riding in a car for miles, then crossing the line to cheers; Thomas Hicks stumbling through the final stretch after his handlers fed him raw eggs, brandy, and strychnine; and Felix Carvajal, the Cuban mail carrier who ran in street clothes, chatted with spectators, ate apples, took a roadside nap, and still finished fourth. Each story exposes a different failure—of oversight, of medical judgment, of basic safety—that forced the sporting world to rethink how endurance events should be run.
Along the way, we connect the chaos to what came next: standardized marathon distance, closed and marked courses, real hydration protocols, bans on outside assistance, and the early roots of anti-doping. This is a fast-moving, eye-opening tour through the day the Olympics learned the hard way that grit needs guardrails. If you care about running history, athlete welfare, or just love a wild true story, this one delivers lessons with every mile.
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00:16 - Meet Bradley And Kate
00:45 - Setting The Stage: 1904 Marathon
01:31 - Heat, No Water, Bad Science
02:42 - A Course Choked With Dust
04:20 - Runners Drop As Chaos Mounts
06:40 - Fred Lorz Rides, “Wins,” And Lies
08:16 - Thomas Hicks And The Poison Plan
10:15 - Held To The Line, Declared Champion
12:10 - Felix Carvajal’s Wild Fourth Place
14:15 - What Changed Because Of 1904
16:52 - Closing, Jokes, And Callouts
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