The men's marathon at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, United States, took place on August 30 of that year, over a distance of 24 miles 1500 yards (40 km).

[1] The race was run during the hottest part of the day on dusty country roads with minimal water supply; while 32 athletes coming from seven nations (the United States, France, Cuba, Greece, the Orange River Colony, Great Britain, and Canada) competed, only 14 managed to complete the race,[2] which was a bizarre affair due to poor organization and officiating.

The actual winner, Thomas Hicks, was near collapse and hallucinating by the end of the race, a side effect of being administered brandy, raw eggs, and strychnine by his trainers.

[5] Cuba and South Africa each made their first appearance in the event, while the United States was the only nation to have runners in each of the first three Olympic marathons.

[9] The course was also not cleared of obstacles for the marathon, with the runners having to constantly dodge cross-town traffic, delivery wagons, railroad trains, trolley cars and even people walking their dogs.

[6] During the race, John Lordan, who had won the 1903 Boston Marathon, was violently ill after 10 miles (16 km) and retired, while Sam Mellor, who had won the 1902 Boston Marathon, was also overcome by the dust; despite leading the field at the halfway mark, Mellor became disoriented and ultimately dropped out of the race after 14.5 miles (23.3 km).

He was found lying on the road along the marathon course unconscious, with severe internal injuries that had been caused by breathing the clouds of dust kicked up by the race officials' cars.

[6] After losing all of his money gambling in New Orleans, Louisiana, he hitchhiked to St. Louis and had to run the event in street clothes that he cut around the legs to make them into shorts.

[3][6] James Edward Sullivan was a chief organizer of the Olympics, and set up no other water sources along the 24 miles and 1500 yards course of the marathon even though it was conducted in 32 °C (90 °F) heat over unpaved roads that were choked with dust.