The Marathon Bar - Long Lost Candy?

Eight inches of braided caramel, a red wrapper with a ruler printed right on it, and a cowboy telling you this was the candy bar you couldn't eat fast. If you remember the Marathon Bar, you never really got over losing it.

What exactly was the Marathon Bar?

The Mars Candy Company launched the Marathon Bar in 1973, and it was unlike anything else in the checkout aisle. Instead of a solid slab, you got a full eight inches of braided, latticed caramel, drenched in milk chocolate. The open weave meant every bite had that satisfying stretch-and-snap that a regular caramel bar just can't do.

Mars leaned hard into the length. The bright red wrapper was impossible to miss on the rack, and it had an actual ruler printed on the back so you could prove to your friends exactly how much candy bar you were holding. The TV ads starred a cowboy character who pitched it as "the candy bar you can't eat quickly" — which, to a kid with a quarter, sounded less like a warning and more like a promise.

So why did Mars discontinue it?

Mars discontinued the Marathon Bar in 1981, after just eight years on shelves. There was never a dramatic public explanation — like a lot of 1970s bars, it simply didn't move enough volume to keep its slot in a fiercely competitive category, and Mars redirected its attention to the heavy hitters in its lineup.

Eight years is a blink in candy-bar terms. But the Marathon landed at exactly the right age for a generation of kids, and that's why it's still one of the most-searched "whatever happened to..." candies decades later — to the continuing dismay of Marathon lovers and the staff here at Bulk Candy Store.

The original vs. what you can buy today

Good news — the Curly Wurly is the Marathon Bar's twin!

Here's the happy ending Marathon fans deserve. Cadbury — one of the largest candy makers in the world, by the way — makes a bar called the Curly Wurly, and it is essentially the same candy bar: the same braided caramel lattice, the same 1" x 8" dimensions, the same milk chocolate coating. Bite one and the muscle memory comes right back.

Curly Wurlys are imported from the UK, which is why you won't spot them at a typical American gas station. They've earned the nickname "the bendy, stretchy candy bar," and here's the kicker for anyone counting: a single bar is only about 115 calories. Eight inches of chocolate-covered caramel for that? The Marathon Bar was ahead of its time.

One more piece of trivia for the true candy nerds: in the UK and Ireland, "Marathon" was the name Mars used for the bar Americans call Snickers until 1990. So depending on which side of the Atlantic you grew up on, a "Marathon Bar" means two completely different things — which is exactly why online searches for it get so confusing.

Why long-lost candy is having a moment right now

The Marathon Bar hunt isn't happening in a vacuum. Nostalgic candy is one of the hottest corners of the confectionery world right now: social media keeps resurfacing retro wrappers, grown-up fans are buying the treats they loved as kids to share with their own children, and small companies have built entire businesses out of resurrecting orphaned brands. Bonomo's Turkish Taffy, Necco Wafers, and the Reggie! Bar have all come back from the dead — we rounded up the best of them in Candy Comebacks: 7 Discontinued Treats That Came Back From the Dead.

Mars hasn't shown any sign of reviving the Marathon, so for now the Curly Wurly is the move. But if the last few years have taught candy fans anything, it's that "gone forever" isn't always forever.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Marathon Bar discontinued?

Yes. Mars introduced the Marathon Bar in 1973 and discontinued it in 1981. It has not been produced in the United States since, and there is no announced plan to bring it back.

Can you still buy a Marathon Bar anywhere?

Not the original — any "Marathon Bar" you see for sale online is either a vintage collectible wrapper or the UK Snickers version. The closest thing you can actually eat is Cadbury's Curly Wurly, which matches the original's braided caramel and milk chocolate almost exactly.

Is the Curly Wurly the same as a Marathon Bar?

Practically speaking, yes. Both are a 1" x 8" braid of chewy caramel coated in milk chocolate. The main differences are the brand, the wrapper, and the fact that the Curly Wurly is imported from the UK.

Why was the Marathon Bar discontinued?

Mars never gave a detailed public reason. The most likely explanation is simple shelf economics — after eight years the bar wasn't selling well enough to hold its spot against Mars' bigger brands, so it was retired in 1981.

Why do British people say a Marathon is a Snickers?

Because it was! Mars sold the Snickers bar under the name "Marathon" in the UK and Ireland until 1990, when the name was harmonized worldwide. That's a completely different candy bar from the American Marathon of 1973.

Ready to taste 1973 again?

You can stop searching — we keep the Cadbury Curly Wurly Bar in stock, ready to ship, and it's about as close to a Marathon Bar as you'll get in 2026. While you're here, dig through the rest of our Cadbury imports, our caramel candy and chocolate favorites, or the full nostalgic candy collection — there's a good chance another treat you thought was long gone is sitting right there waiting for you!