The marathon is now 26 miles, 385 yards, or 42.195 kilometers, but that was not always the case. At the first modern Olympics in 1896, it was 40 kilometers, or 24.85 miles. In 1908, it is rumored that the Prince of Wales wanted his children to watch the start of the marathon, so the starting point was moved to his castle and the now-standard distance was established.

I’ve always wondered how they measured the course. Perhaps they used standard surveying equipment, which is not practical for the many marathons now run around the world.

More than 40 years ago, Alan Jones made one of the most important innovations in marathon history. He created the Jones Counter, which measures accurately the length of a marathon course. The counter attaches to the front wheel of a bicycle and typically indicates 20 counts per revolution of the wheel. The bicycle is then “calibrated” against a known calibration course that has been measured using a steel tape. A marathon course can now be measured using simple mathematical ratios.

Another innovation that was extremely important also concerned the measurement of a marathon course. The innovation was the short-course prevention factor. This is simply a factor that is added to all measurements to make sure that a marathon course is at least the stated distance of 26 miles, 385 yards or 42.195 kilometers. This factor is incorporated in the computations to allow for the fact that people may ride their bicycles differently.

The concept of measuring marathon courses using the bicycle method is now universally accepted and in fact is the only method approved by United States Track & Field (USATF) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Now we could measure the correct distance for the marathon and the intermediate points such as the mile marks and kilometer points. This became extremely important because another innovation occurred, the development of the digital watch/stopwatch, which allowed marathon runners to determine their pace in training as well as in a marathon. Another innovation that came along with the digital watch was the digital clock, which could be placed at the finish line or at any other measured location. These could serve two purposes: displaying the elapsed time in the race for runners and spectators and providing another opportunity for “branding” either with a sponsor’s name or the name of the event.

Probably the most important factors for runners are that the course is the proper length and that they receive their correct time and place. In the early years, that was rather easy, as there were not very many runners. A long chute (to maintain the finishing order) and a stopwatch were all that were needed.

As marathons became more popular and many more people were competing, it was necessary to devise a system to help keep track of the finishing order, since you could no longer have the runners waiting in a single chute to be processed. Thus the innovation of multiple chutes/finish lines was created. This allowed thousands upon thousands of runners to run a marathon and get their correct time and place. By dividing the finish line into sections, each having a separate timer, it became possible to accurately time densities of a few hundred runners per minute crossing the finish line. It then became a matter of bookkeeping to track the chutes in each finishing lane and then merge all the finish lanes to arrive at the correct finishing order with times and places.

None of this could be done without the aid of another innovation—select times—in which a runner’s bib number and actual time were recorded using a stopwatch or the race clock at the finish line. While it was possible to record only certain “select” runners in this way, these times and numbers provided a way of making sure the stream of running numbers and times were being matched together accurately. A mismatch could be corrected by either interpolating or by extrapolating the time stream.

This was initially all done manually, but then the next innovation came along, which made the bookkeeping much faster and more accurate, and that was the computer. The computer allowed data associated with each runner to be entered prior to the race and then retrieved using the runner’s number. Once the runner’s time was added, lists could be sorted in finish order for results printing. No longer did you have to look up the runner’s entry form and type results lists after the race. Now it was possible for runners to see their race results shortly after finishing the race instead of waiting until the next day or even later.

The timing then simply became a matter of establishing the accurate time for first place (usually by three stopwatches), and then all the other times were an offset from that. But there still was room for error because the runner’s bib numbers had to be written down on recording sheets at the end of the finish chutes, and sometimes they would be written incorrectly or illegibly, especially in inclement weather.

What was needed was some type of foolproof system that would allow the runner’s number to be obtained without being written down. That innovation was the bar code. Bar codes were already in common use at retail checkout counters. Each bar code consists of a series of vertical black-and-white bars of varying widths and spacing that could be read by an optical scanner. This output was linked to a computer and provided information about the item and price to determine how much the customer owed as well as to help the store keep track of its inventory. Bar codes representing each runner’s number were attached to the number and then pulled off and spindled in order at the end of the finish chute. They were then scanned to provide an accurate list of finishers, which could then be matched up to the times from the finish line.

In the 1990s, the way we acquired finishing data was transformed when the RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags or “chips” came along (from the company ChampionChip, which promoted their use in races). These work on the principle of radio excitation and reception. A mat with a built-in antenna at the finish line would send out a radio wave to excite the chip and cause it to send a signal back to the antenna, with the signal then sent to the computer for processing. For the first time, the runner’s bib number and time could be captured together right at the finish line. This did away with recorders, bar codes, and chutes in marathons.

Now it was possible to record not only finish times but also split times at various points along the course as well. Runners’ times and numbers could also be captured by mats at the start of the race so that a “net time” could be calculated for each runner. This is particularly important to runners in large races where it might take several minutes to cross the starting line.

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and in the following case this is definitely true. It is known that marathon runners run out of energy before they have run the full 42.195 kilometers. Something was needed that could replenish their empty or almost-empty energy stores, and so the electrolyte replacement drink was created. This is now standard at almost all marathons. In the early days of marathon running, defizzed Coca-Cola was placed along the course to replenish the runners’ energy. There are now several brands of liquid electrolyte replacement, but not everyone can drink liquids while running, so these runners had difficulty receiving enough of the electrolyte. An enterprising company tackled this problem and came up with a gel-like substance in a tube to take the place of the liquid. Marathon runners could now grab these tubes on the run and squeeze electrolyte into their mouths. Marathoners now use this gel while training as well as in races because it is very easy to carry.

In the early days of marathon running, it was easy to take care of the needs of the runners since there were not many of them. Today we have marathons with tens of thousands of runners, and it has become more difficult to tend to their needs. No longer are we able to take care of each runner as an individual, so we use stations beyond the finish where the runners quickly pass through and receive or take something such as water or food.

In 1981, it was time for another innovation, the lightweight, reflective, insulated blanket. These utilize body heat and the sun to protect runners after they finish. Placing the blanket with the highly reflective side facing the runner’s body keeps the heat from escaping and keeps the runner warm. This is especially important when the ambient temperature is low. However, the blanket serves a purpose in warm weather as well. By keeping the reflective side toward the sun (and not allowing the sun to penetrate the runner’s body), the runner can be kept cool. In either case, it will help the runner’s body temperature return to normal sooner.

I am sure that there will be more innovations to help marathoners and marathon races in the future. With the advent of microminiaturization, I feel that in the not-too-distant future every marathon runner will be able to be tracked by GPS every step of the way. The runners’ friends and family will be able to track them continuously instead of at fixed points and often not in real time as they are now. I also believe that every marathon runner will be tested for performance-enhancing drugs by a very inexpensive routine technique to make sure that everyone—not only the professional athletes—competes on a level playing field and.

I believe that whatever you can dream of concerning marathons, it will at some time become a reality.

So you want to run an ultramarathon, do you?

You want to run 26.2 miles and then keep going? You want to taste blood, salt, vomit, or whatever else goes in or out of your mouth over the course of many hours of running? You want to blister your feet so that some toes might not be recognizable? You want to mutilate your quadriceps muscles to the point that you can’t travel up or down a set of stairs for days?

Let me begin again.

You wish to gallivant through gorgeous natural settings? You want to spend a day (and maybe a night and another day again) with like-minded and oft-quirky people? You want the experience of pushing your body beyond a previously set limit and discovering a new version of you?

If so, you are not alone. Running an ultramarathon—defined as any run or race in excess of a marathon’s distance—is becoming a wickedly popular pastime. UltraRunning magazine, the long-standing print purveyor of race reports, schedules, and news from this niche sport, reports that 2008 saw 30,789 ultramarathon race finishes. And just four years later, in 2012, the magazine estimated that 60,000 ultra finishes happened. This massive increase in ultramarathoning popularity is evidence that the sport is growing rapidly, even as you read this. What I mean to say is that, if you would like to do something as loony as this kind of racing, you will have frequent company.

And I also mean to say that this article is here to guide you through the muddy waters of the marathoning-to-ultramarathoning transition. In this article, I’ve enlisted the help of longtime ultrarunners, the sport’s elite, a couple of my ultrarunning friends, and my own experience to create a list of 10 fantastic, first-timer,