The 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis was a complete disaster, with runners facing extreme heat, dust clouds, lack of water, and even being doped with rat poison by trainers.
The two podcast episodes, "The Strange Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon" from Stuff You Should Know and "Famous Dumpster Fires in History: The 1904 Olympic Marathon" from Stealing Superman, both delve into the bizarre and farcical circumstances surrounding this infamous event.
The episodes recount the extreme conditions that athletes faced, the odd participants like the napping Cuban man, and the eventual winner who was essentially carried across the finish line after being given strychnine.