A. Kind of, sometimes… While they are all 26.2 miles long, some marathons have little twists to make them more appealing by, for example, taking place at night (ex. Las Vegas night marathon) or running though a special experience (Disney World, which links five theme parks and ESPN Zone while being cheered by Disney characters, music, and sets). Some marathons start way out of town and head in a straight line into the city for the finish line (ex. Boston, New York, London, L.A.) while others are on an Olympic course-loop, meaning that they start and return to finish in the same spot allowing for the effects of wind direction to be evened out (Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, for example). Some are trail marathons that take place on rugged, off-road terrain, and some are part of a larger athletic event (i.e. a Full Ironman, in which the marathon occurs after a 5 mile swim and a 112 mile bike race; I did an Ironman in Madison, WI). I’m sure there are some that encourage a costume, and some are set up as 4-person relays. But, again, they are always 26.2 miles if they are called a marathon.