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Time for another marathon story today and perhaps the most farcical in Olympic history.

If you think the conditions in Beijing are going to bad, then take a look at the

Thirty-two competitors set out on the 25-mile course, which took in seven steep hills on mostly unpaved roads in temperatures reaching 90 degrees with a humidity level to match.

To add to the difficulty there was just one scheduled water stop while horses, which were clearing spectators off the course, kicked up huge quantities of dust, making breathing difficult.

Athletes also had to negotiate that most newfangled of inventions, the , which belched out exhaust fumes and added to the dust problem while tracking the athletes.

It is a wonder that anybody finished the race, but 14 did.

Fred Lorz was first past the post, but the enterprising American had to be disqualified when it transpired that he had suffered cramps and all-but pulled out of the race when he hitched a lift in a smoke-belching automobile.

Cars weren't as reliable as they are today though and Lorz's lift took him just 11 miles before breaking down five miles from the finish. But, unsurprisingly, he was now in the lead.

He sauntered into the stadium to huge cheers from the crowd and was in the middle of receiving his prize from Alice Roosevelt, daughter of the when his ruse was discovered.

Lorz claimed that it was all a big joke and that he was just running back to the stadium to collect his clothes but couldn't resist the cheering of the crowd.

And testimony from other athletes, who said Lorz had been waving to them from the car as he passed them, backed this up.

The upshot was that English-born Thomas Hicks, who was running for America, was declared the winner, although his race too was not without controversy.

With seven miles remaining, he was on the verge of stopping, but a bit of and raw eggs with a brandy chaser helped him through the next couple of miles.

That dose was repeated at least twice more and he still had to be helped to the finish line where he collapsed and doctors had to fight hard to save his life.

Today, he would have been disqualified, but administering drugs and alcohol back then was deemed to be in the spirit of fair play.

Of the other finishers, Cuba's Felix Carvajal provides the most heart-warming story.

Most competitors had to fund their own way to St Louis and getting there from Carvajal's home city of Havana was not that simple.

He begged enough money to make the trip, but after reaching New Orleans by boat, he lost the rest of his cash in a dice game and had to hitch-hike his way to Missouri.

Once there, the postman lined up in a long-sleeve shirt, long pants and heavy shoes. Legend has it that during the race he practised his English on the spectators and even ran backwards while chatting.

But it was a trip to an orchard that ended his chances of winning. A rogue green apple upset his stomach and he had to rest, but he still came home fourth.

The first black Africans to participate in the Olympics, Len Taunyane, known as Lentaw, and Jan Mashiani, known as Yamasani, finished in ninth and 12th respectively.

What made their feat more remarkable is that they were only in town as participants in a Boer War exhibition and Lentaw might have finished better had he not been chased one-mile off course by a dog.

But an indication of just how bad conditions were came when William Garcia, winner of the 1903 Boston marathon, was found lying unconscious by the roadside.

A medical examination determined that the dust he had inhaled had almost destroyed the lining of his stomach; thankfully he recovered a few days later.

So there you have it - the marathon the Olympics would probably rather forget about.

I'm not expecting anything quite so farcical in Beijing, but with the heat, humidity and smog in the 2008 host city, how tough will it be for the runners in China?