Today this is at Ulriksdal which the runners reach after 8km and then after 32km on the way back.
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A tour of the 1912 Olympic Marathon course
Work on the Jubilee Marathon Stockholm 1912–2012 began in earnest in
November 2009 when a group from the Stockholm Marathon office together with several other relevant individuals studied the proposed course.
At the Jubilee race on 14 July 2012, the course – exactly like the Olympic course one hundred years earlier – will be 40,200 metres. Then an extra stretch will be added at the end to reach the distance of 42,195 metres which is today the official marathon distance.
Just as at the Olympic Games in 1912, the Jubilee Marathon will start inside Stockholm Stadium, in front of the royal box in the middle of the home straight. The athletes will run about 250 metres – three quarters of a lap – inside the 1912 Olympic arena before they leave the Stadium through the Marathon Gate which takes them directly onto Valhallavägen where the course then takes a right turn towards Östra Station.
Memorial for the 1912 Olympic Marathon at Sollentuna Church.
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In 1912, 69 runners lined up in the Olympic event which drew the largest crowds. In 2012 there will be significantly more participants. To enable them all to start inside Stockholm Stadium, runners in the Jubilee Marathon will be divided into start groups each with around 1500 competitors.
Even though it is 100 years since the Olympic Games in Stockholm, it is still possible to follow almost the exact Olympic course. Through Bergshamra in Solna – about 7km after the start – just over one kilometre of the course is on cycle and park paths. Otherwise the course almost entirely follows the same roads as in 1912. The early 20th century national route between Stockholm and Uppsala is now a smaller two-lane road running parallel to the six-lane E4 motorway.
In 1913 an Olympic Marathon memorial was built at the turning point near Solna Church. The memorial was moved in the 60s - due to road construction – to a point nearer the church. In 2012 the turning point will be in the same place as in 1912 but the return stretch will pass the memorial stone.
"It is remarkable that it is still possible to run on almost exactly the same course that they used in 1912", says Thomas Enström, a veteran who has completed 29 Stockholm Marathons.
The course is hilly. The toughest part is a kilometre long climb which comes after about 38km.
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