The Marathon Race (1910)

"The Marathon Race" is a roll-and-move race game with a 167-space track based on the marathon course at the 1908 Olympics, with locations from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium. Players landing on the "INN" spaces are compelled to divert on to the far longer alternative tracks that may ultimately place them at the head of the race. (Perhaps coincidentally, this presages a similar idea in Parker Bros. Pachisi variant, "Pollyanna," five years later.) There is also a "Snakes and Ladders"-style mechanic in which "STILE" spaces send players forward and "LOSE" spaces send them (sometimes very dramatically) back. The first player to land on 167 exactly, without overshooting, wins; players then "line up" in order to receive the (imaginary) trophy. (This information is extrapolated from Brian Love's 1978 book "Play the Game." Please modify with any expanded description or corrections that can be provided by the owner of a physical copy of the game.)