https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-26/the-wildest-olympic-event-in-modern-history/12467362

The 1904 men's marathon was so poorly organised, so rife with fraud, and so life-threatening to the competitors, that the organiser wanted the race abolished from future Games.

The race was held at 3:00pm on a sweltering 32-degree day, and took the runners over dusty, unpaved roads.

James Sullivan, the chief organiser of the St Louis Olympics, was interested in 'purposeful dehydration' -- an ill-advised area of scientific research at the turn of the century -- and ensured there was only one water station on the entire course.

The runners set off in a swirl of car fumes and dust, dodging men on horseback and people walking their dogs.

The conditions were so gruelling that American runner William Garcia collapsed halfway through the course and needed emergency surgery.

"He had ingested so much dust that it had ripped his stomach lining," historian Nancy J. Parezo wrote in The 1904 Anthropology Days and Olympic Games.

[American runner Fred Lorz] ran across the finish line and had his photograph taken with president Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice.

Just as he was about to accept his gold medal, a witness stepped forward and declared Lorz a fraud.

The 20-year-old, exhausted and dehydrated, had given up at the 14th kilometre. His trainer had offered him a lift to the stadium so he could pick up his clothes.

But when his trainer's car broke down, Lorz figured he may as well run the rest of the way.

The second winner was high on rat poison.

He too was fading fast from the dust and heat, and tried to lay down on the road.

Hicks' trainers, who also believed that water diminished an athlete's performance, gave him small sips of a toxic ****tail to stimulate his nervous system.

High on rat poison which was mixed with an egg white and brandy, the 28-year-old staggered along for the rest of the course while hallucinating.

One of the Tswana tribesmen, Len Tau, turned out to be a talented marathoner, but he was chased more than a kilometre off-course by feral dogs. 

And Felix Carbajal de Soto, who ran in a beret and dress shoes, managed to acquire food poisoning during the race.

"Suffering from hunger, and with no coaches to assist him, he picked a green apple from a tree along the route," sports historian Thomas F Carter wrote in the book, Olimpismo.

But the rotten apple left him with painful stomach cramps, so he took a quick nap on the side of the road before continuing on the race.

The organisers of the 1908 London Olympics learned from some of James Sullivan's mistakes -- but not all.

The length of the marathon was standardised to 42.195 kilometres or 26 miles and 385 yards. Helping a runner over the finish line became a disqualifying offence.

But the distrust of water persisted, and runners continued to sip rat poison, brandy and even champagne to enhance their performance.

What was the secret to American runner John Hayes' victory in the 1908 marathon?

"I merely bathed my face with [cologne], and gargled my throat with brandy," he explained.