PARIS • The marathon course at the 2024 Paris Olympics will pay homage to women who protested during the French Revolution by retracing a route they took in 1789. It will also include a strength-draining 438 meters of uphill racing, a punishing endurance test that organizers proudly described Wednesday as “a challenge without precedent.”

And in an Olympic first, female marathoners will get the privilege of competing last, on the final day, Aug. 11. The men will race on Aug. 10.

The runners will race from Paris to the royal town of Versailles — a route that includes some punishing climbs — and back again.

Paris to Versailles is also the route that was taken by thousands of women, and some men, on Oct. 5, 1789, to plead for food at the spectacular palace of King Louis XVI.X