Endurance Trivia Quiz

Answer: 26.2 miles

The marathon has been a part of the modern-day Summer Olympics program since the first Olympic Games in Athens Greece in 1896. The official marathon distance is 42.195km or 26 miles and 385 yards. The distance was standardized in 1921. The marathon event is influenced by the Greek legend of Pheidippides. Pheidippides was a messenger who in 490 BC was sent from the battlefields of Marathon to Athens to announce a victory over the Persians.

It is said he ran the whole distance without stopping and after bursting into the Assembly to announce the news he promptly dropped dead of exhaustion.

Answer: Swimming, Cycling, Running

The Ironman Triathlon is a trade-marked race organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It incorporates a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike leg, and a 26.2 mile marathon run. The Ironman event has a very strict 17 hour time limit that athletes must meet in order to earn a finishing medal. Races usually begin at 7:00 am.

The swim must be completed by 9:20 am, the bike by 5:30 pm, and the run by midnight.

Answer: 226.2 km

The entire distance of the Ironman triathlon is 140.6 miles or 226.2 kilometers. The original Ironman distance was born after a discussion by Hawaiian endurance athletes as to what was the tougher event, the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles), the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles) or Around Oahu Bike Race (115 miles). U.S. Navy Commander John Collins suggested they should put all three events together and, in February 1978, 15 athletes lined up at the unofficial start line with the agreement that the winner would truly earn the title "Ironman". Twelve athletes completed the distance with Gordon Haller, a U.S. Navy Communications Specialist leading the field home in 11 hours 46 minutes and 58 seconds. From those humble beginnings a worldwide phenomenon was born.

The idea for the original Ironman Triathlon arose during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oʻahu Perimeter Relay.[7] Among the participants were representatives of both the Mid-Pacific Road Runners and the Waikiki Swim Club, whose members had long been debating which athletes were more fit, runners or swimmers.

Answer: Tour de France

The first edition of the Tour de France multistage road race was held in 1903. The 2013 edition was the 100th running of the race, the only pauses being during the World War years. In modern-day times the race encompasses 21 stages over a 23-day period during the month of July. The route changes periodically but the finish line is always on the Champs Elysees in Paris. The entire race length is usually close to 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers).

Answer: English Channel

On August 25th 1875, Captain Matthew Webb dived into the English Channel from Admiralty Pier in Dover. Smothered in porpoise oil and accompanied by three support vessels, he swam towards France through jellyfish stings and stiff currents. His zig-zag swim took 22 hours and covered almost 40 miles. Captain Webb became an instant celebrity and professional swimmer. Sadly, he died infamously in an attempt to cross the whirlpool rapids at the foot of Niagara Falls on July 24th 1883.

Answer: 10 km

Open water swimming was included as an Olympic event in the original 1896 Olympic Games held in Athens Greece. The event disappeared until it was recalled to the Olympic program for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where athletes competed in a 10km event.

The inaugural event was won by Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands. In 2011 he was diagnosed with Leukemia but came back strong after treatment to earn a place on his Olympic team. Weijden won the title in a dramatic sprint to the finish against David Davies of Great Britain and Thomas Lurz of Germany (who also claimed a silver medal in the 2012 London Games).

The women's inaugural event was won by Russian swimmer Larisa IIchenko.

Answer: Norwegian

Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo left Battery Park in Manhatten on June 6th 1896. Covering a total of 3,250 nautical miles, they arrived on the Isles of Scilly 55 days and 13 hours later. Remarkably, they did not stop long to celebrate but continued on rowing to Le Havre France.

The first solo crossing in a rowboat was successfully achieved by John Fairfax of Great Britain on July 19th 1969. His trip took him from the Canary Islands to Hollywood Beach Florida in 180 days. Remarkably, another British rower set out from Newfoundland Canada almost 4 months after Fairfax. Tom McClean would land in Blacksod Bay Ireland on July 27th 1969 missing beating Fairfax to the first Atlantic Crossing by just 8 days.

Answer: 1984 Los Angeles

The 1984 Women's Olympic Marathon was a groundbreaking moment for women endurance athletes everywhere. Years of lobbying the International Olympic Committee caused the IOC to introduce the marathon into the Women's Track & Field program. In 1984, the longest women's distance event was the 3000m run. Remarkably, the 5000m, 10,000m, and 3000m steeplechase events were not yet a part of the Olympic program for women. Thus, every major female endurance athlete in the world lined up for the inaugural marathon in 1984. Tiny Joan Benoit of the United States surged away from the pack 14 minutes into the race and never relinquished the lead.

She ran alone for over 23 miles of the race to finish almost 2 minutes ahead of Norwegian Grete Waitz in 2:24.52.

Answer: 50 km

The 50km racewalk (30.07 miles) is an Olympic event contested only by male athletes. Athletes in the racewalk must adhere to strict rules of maintaining foot contact with the ground at all times. Athletes also must not bend their knee at the point of contact as the foot hits the ground.

The very best racewalkers in the world complete the 50 km distance in times below 3 hours and 40 minutes. The very first Olympic 50 km racewalk was contested in 1932 in Los Angeles. Tommy Green of Great Britain won the gold medal with a time of 4 hours 50 minutes and 10 seconds.

Answer: 3,100 miles

The Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile was the brain child of Sri Chinmoy. In 1985, he started the first race with a distance of 1,000 miles. In 1987 until 2004 there were options of 700, 1,000, and 1,300 mile race distances. In 1996 the top distance was raised to 2,700 miles and a year later it was again raised to 3,100 miles. The 3,100 mile (4,989KM) distance has remained the same since 1997. In 2006, German athlete Madhupran Wolfgang Schwerk covered the distance in 41 days 8 hours 16 minutes and 29 seconds...now that is endurance.