Only 62 athletes representing 10 nations joined the event from outside North America.
Runners lined up at the start of the 1904 Olympic marathon race.
Only three had real experience of running long distances, having taken part in the Boston Marathon.
The rest were amateurs who had never attempted anything like a marathon in their lives before.
One of the runners, Felix Carbajal from Cuba arrived at the last minutes.
He arrived at the race dressed in long trousers, a white shirt and walking shoes.
Cubanian athlete Felix Carvajal at the 1904 Olympic Games.
Both had served as long-distance message runners during the then-recent Boer War.
The race stared at precisely 3:03 p.m during the hottest part of the day.
The route traversed through unpaved country roads that kicked up copious amount of dust and made breathing laborious.
Lorz would go on to win the Boston Marathon a year later.
Felix Carvajalthe one who had arrived in street clothestrotted along at a reasonable pace despite his uncomfortable shoes.
He asked if he could have the one, but the spectator refused.
Caravajal snatched two and ate them as he ran.
Suffering from stomach cramps, he lied down and took a nap.
He still finished fourth.
Felix Carvajal on his way at St.Louis Olympic Games' Marathon.
Dust had coated his esophagus and ripped his stomach lining.
Sam Mellor, who had won the 1902 Boston Marathon, was also overcome by the dust.
He dropped out of the race after 16 miles.
His fellow South African, Jan Mashiani, finished 12th.
At the 10-mile-mark, Hicks began to grow desperately thirsty.
He begged them for a drink but they refused, instead sponging out his mouth with warm distilled water.
In high doses, this compound is used as rat poison.
But at small doses, it is a stimulant.
Thus Hicks became the first athletic to use performance-enhancing drug in the Olympics.
With only two miles remaining, Hicks received his second dose of strychnine and some brandy.
By this point, Hicks was hallucinating and believed he still had 20 miles to go.
He begged for something to eat and to lie down.
Tom Hicks and his trainers at the marathon.
Finally, when Hicks swung into the stadium, he had to be literally carried over the line.
His trainers held him aloft while Hicks moved his feet back and forth, as if he was running.
He was declared the winner.
The terrific hills simply tear a man to pieces.
However, he disappeared after landing in Italy, and never arrived in Athens.
He was proclaimed dead in his home country, only for him the return a year later.
