The first place finisher did most of the race in a car. He was intending to drop out, and got a car back to the stadium to get his change of clothes, and started jogging when he heard the fanfare.
Second place was carried across the finish line by his trainers in a Scott Sterling-esk way. They had refused him water, instead, fueling him on a mixture of Brandy and Rat Poison for the entire race.
Fourth place was a Cuban Mailman, who had raised the funds to attend the Olympics by running non-stop around his entire country. He landed in New Orleans and then lost all of the traveling money on a riverboat casino. He ran the race in dress shoes and long trousers (cut off at the knee by a fellow competitor with a knife). He probably would have come in first, dress shoes included, had it not been for the hour nap he took on the side of the track after eating rotten apples he found on the side of the race.
9th and 12th place were from South Africa and ran barefoot. South Africa didn't actually send a delegation - these were students who just happened to be in the town and thought it sounded fun. 9th was chased a mile off course by angry dogs. Yes, this happened.
Half the participants had never raced competitively. Some died. To be fair it was St. Louis.
The Russian runners arrived a week late because they were still using the Julian calendar. They didn't stop using the Julian calendar until 1918 and were late on many of the Olympics because of it.
Here's a video if you want to know more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4AhABManTw&feature=youtu.be
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