Running in Place Trivia Quiz

Answer: New York City

The New York City Marathon is one of six that compromises the World Marathon Majors. It has one of the biggest number of participants of all marathons worldwide; over 50,000 runners completed the NYC marathon in 2013. The 2012 marathon was cancelled two days before it was to be run, due to the recent destruction caused by Super Storm Sandy. Just a couple days earlier, Mayor Bloomberg had announced that the race would be held regardless.

This was a controversial decision because many people thought that holding the marathon as scheduled would be a great boost to morale for the city, while others thought that city resources needed to be focused elsewhere.

Answer: Boston

The Boston Marathon was first run in 1897, making it one of the longest running sporting events in history, and is one of the six marathons in the World Marathon Majors. It has always been run on Patriots' Day, a public holiday in the state of Massachusetts; since 1969, Patriots' Day has been the third Monday in April.

In 2013, the marathon made headlines across the world when two bombs went off at the finish line of the marathon, injuring over 200 people and killing three. Many participants had not had a chance to complete course, though the winners had crossed the finish line about three hours earlier.

Answer: Perth, Australia

City to Surf is held in Perth in Western Australia. While the course has traditionally been 12 km, along with a shorter 4 km course from Perry Lakes to City Beach for the less committed, the event organizers first held a marathon-length course in 2009.

The marathon course starts with a 21 km detour before heading the 12 km to City Beach. A similar 14 km event called City2Surf is also held annually in Sydney, Australia.

Answer: Tokyo

The Tokyo Marathon was the sixth race to be included in the World Marathon Majors. The Tokyo Marathon in its present form (a general marathon open to both men and women) was first run in 2007. In previous years, there were multiple marathons (including a separate one for female runners) held in alternating years. The Tokyo Marathon takes place in late February.

Answer: Chicago

The popularity of Chicago's early 20th century marathon was inspired by the modern Olympic marathon and Boston's, which started the year after the first modern Olympics. The annual event ended in the 1920s, but when New York City introduced the five-borough course 1976, Chicago decided they could have a citywide marathon too.

The event organizers needed the support of Mayor Richard Daley, who died before the first marathon was run. The succeeding Mayor Michael Bilandic threw his support behind the marathon, and it was called the Mayor Daley Marathon for the first couple of years, before attracting corporate sponsors.

Answer: London

It is the London Marathon that was established in 1981 and proved to be more popular than the long-running Polytechnic Marathon, which was also run in London. English runner Paula Radcliffe, who has won the London marathon several times, in addition to the New York Marathon and Chicago marathon, set her fastest time in London in 2003, a world record time for women.

The London Marathon has also seen other records set. A previous men's world record time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 38 seconds was set in London in 2002 by Khalid Khannouchi of the United States (but has since been broken).

The London Marathon also set a world record in 2009 for the 'largest annual fundraising event in the world'; over 47 million pounds sterling was raised by participants 2009.

Answer: 2004

The first modern Olympic games were appropriately held in Athens, Greece in 1896. 2004 was the next year that Athens hosted the Summer Olympics. The marathon was put forth to be the signature event of the Olympic Games in 1896. It was to be a race tracing the path of Pheidippides, a courier who, according to legend, ran from the city of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Greeks had been victorious in the Battle of Marathon. Spyridon Louis of Greece won the first Olympic marathon, out of 17 runners who began the course.

Answer: New Brunswick

Fredericton and Moncton are both main cities in New Brunswick; Marathon by the Sea is held in Saint John, New Brunswick, on the East coast of Canada. The Tri-City Run was called one of Canada's most unique races by "iRun" magazine in 2013. The Marathon by the Sea was established in 1995.

Answer: Greenland

The Polar Circle Marathon takes place in the fall in Greenland; the finish line is in the settlement of Kangerlussuaq. A half-marathon is also run; competitors can choose to complete both the half-marathon and the full marathon to earn a Polar Bear medal. Part of the full marathon is run on the ice cap; the exact distance run on the ice cap cannot be determined until a couple of days before the event, but the goal is to have approximately 3 km of the marathon run on ice. The rest is run on usually snow-covered gravel roads.

A similar idea, the Polar Bear Marathon, was started in Canada in 2012, where runners compete in a marathon in Churchill, Manitoba. Surprisingly enough, the temperatures for the Polar Bear Marathon are actually quite a bit colder than for the Polar Circle Marathon; the temperature during the 2013 Polar Bear Marathon dipped to -41C with the windchill.

Answer: Berlin

The Berlin Marathon was first run in 1974 and is one of the six marathons comprising the World Marathon Majors. Until 1990, the course was limited to West Berlin, but in 1990, it expanded throughout the unified city of Berlin. Runners passed through the Brandenberg Gate, running on the other side of the Gate for the first time.

The men's world record set in 2013 was achieved by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds, a minute and 18 seconds faster than the previous world record.

The Berlin Marathon also features an inline skating marathon held on the day before the running event; it is the largest (in terms of participation) inline skating marathon in the world.