The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. First held in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of eight World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Boylston Street, near Copley Square, in Boston. The World Marathon Majors is a series that includes the Sydney, Tokyo, Cape Town, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City marathons. Points from these races determine annual series champions among elite competitors, enhancing international competition and prestige.
The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has organized this event annually since 1897, including a "virtual alternative" after the 2020 road race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race has been managed by DMSE Sports since 1988. Amateur and professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly Massachusetts terrain and varying weather to take part in the race.
The event attracts 500,000+ spectators along the route, making it New England's most viewed sporting event. Recent editions have seen strong participation; for example, the Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world's largest marathon with 38,708 entrants, 36,748 starters, and 35,868 finishers.
History
Men have competed in the event since its inaugural edition in 1897. Women were officially allowed to enter the event starting in 1972, although organizers now recognize 1966 as the first edition officially completed by a woman. Wheelchair divisions were added in 1975 for men and in 1977 for women. The first person to officially race the marathon in a wheelchair was Bob Hall. Handcycle divisions were added in 2017 for both men and women.
The Boston Marathon was first run in April 1897, inspired by the revival of the marathon for the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Until 2020, it was the second oldest continuously running marathon, and the third longest continuously running footrace in North America, having debuted five months after the five mile Buffalo Turkey Trot race.
On April 19, 1897, ten years after the establishment of the B.A.A., the race was inspired by the marathon event at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Organizers evaluated several possible routes before selecting a 24.5-mile course from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston. The inaugural race was open to any competitor over 18, and John J. McDermott won in 2:55:10, leading a field of 15. The event was scheduled for the recently established holiday of Patriots' Day, with the race linking the Athenian and American struggles for liberty. The race, which became known as the Boston Marathon, has been held in some form every year since then, even during the World War years and the Great Depression, making it the world's oldest annual marathon. In 1924, the starting line was moved from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland to the neighboring town of Hopkinton. The course was adjusted gradually after the 1908 Olympic standards established 26 miles 385 yards as the official distance. Boston's course requirements changed with this, as runners were required to complete a standard International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) certified marathon.
The Boston Marathon was originally a local event, but its fame and status have attracted runners from all over the world. For most of its history, the Boston Marathon was a free event, and the only prize awarded for winning the race was a wreath woven from olive branches. Corporate-sponsored prize money was awarded in the 1980s after professional athletes refused to compete without it. The marathon awarded the first cash prize in 1986.
Walter A. Brown was the president of the Boston Athletic Association from 1941 to 1964. During the height of the Korean War in 1951, Brown denied Koreans entry into the Boston Marathon. He stated: "While American soldiers are fighting and dying in Korea, every Korean should be fighting to protect his country instead of training for marathons. As long as the war continues there, we positively will not accept Korean entries for our race on April 19."
Following the 2013 bombing, the Boston Marathon instituted enhanced security screening, expanded medical response capabilities, and improved crowd-management plans.
Bobbi Gibb, Kathrine Switzer, and Nina Kuscik
The Boston Marathon rule book made no mention of gender until after the 1967 race. Nor did the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) exclude women from races that included men until after the 1967 Boston Marathon. Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb's attempt to register for the 1966 race was refused by race director Will Cloney in a letter in which he claimed women were physiologically incapable of running 26 miles. Gibb nevertheless ran unregistered and finished the 1966 race in three hours, twenty-one minutes and forty seconds,Derderian, Tom (1996). Boston Marathon: The History of the World's Premier Running Event. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics Publishers. ahead of two-thirds of the runners. Much later, she would be recognized by the race organizers as the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon.
In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, who registered for the race using her official AAU registration number, paying the entry fee, providing a properly acquired fitness certificate, and signing her entry form with her usual signature 'K. V. Switzer', was the first woman to run and finish with a valid official race registration. As a result of Switzer's completion of the race as the first officially registered woman runner, the AAU changed its rules to ban women from competing in races against men. Switzer finished the race despite race official Jock Semple repeatedly assaulting her in an attempt to rip off her race numbers and eject her from the race. Afterwards, Semple and Switzer became friends.
Nina Kuscsik was instrumental in influencing the Amateur Athletic Union in 1971 to increase its maximum distance for sanctioned women's races, leading to official participation by women in marathons, beginning at Boston in 1972. Kuscsik was the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon, which occurred in 1972.
In 1996, the B.A.A. retroactively recognized as champions the unofficial women's leaders of 1966 through 1971. In 2022, about 43 percent of the entrants were women.
Rosie Ruiz, the impostor In 1980, Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line first in the women's race. However, marathon officials became suspicious, and it was discovered that she did not appear in race videotapes until near the end of the race, with a subsequent investigation concluding that she had skipped most of the race and blended into the crowd about a half-mile (800m) from the finish line, where she then ran to her false victory. She was disqualified eight days later, and Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was proclaimed the winner.
Participant deaths In 1905, James Edward Brooks of North Adams, Massachusetts, died of pneumonia shortly after running the marathon.Johanne Grewell. "Eleanor Brooks Fairs." American Communal Societies Quarterly, October 2009. In 1996, a 61-year-old Swedish man, Humphrey Siesage, died of a heart attack during the 100th running. In 2002, Cynthia Lucero, 28, died of hyponatremia.
2011: Geoffrey Mutai and the IAAF
On April 18, 2011, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the 2011 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:03:02:00. Although this was the fastest marathon ever run at the time, the International Association of Athletics Federations noted that the performance was not eligible for world record status given that the course did not satisfy rules that regarded elevation drop and start/finish separation (the latter requirement being intended to prevent advantages gained from a strong tailwind, as was the case in 2011). The Associated Press (AP) reported that Mutai had the support of other runners who describe the IAAF's rules as "flawed". According to the Boston Herald, race director Dave McGillivray said he was sending paperwork to the IAAF to have Mutai's mark ratified as a world record. Although this was not successful, the AP indicated that the attempt to have the mark certified as a world record "would force the governing bodies to reject an unprecedented performance on the world's most prestigious marathon course".
2013: Bombing
On April 15, 2013, the Boston Marathon was still in progress at 2:49p.m. EDT (nearly three hours after the winner crossed the finish line), when two homemade bombs were set off about apart on Boylston Street, in approximately the last of the course. The race was halted, preventing many from finishing. Three spectators were killed and an estimated 264 people were injured. Entrants who completed at least half the course and did not finish due to the bombing were given automatic entry in 2014. In 2015, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the perpetrators of the bombing, was found guilty of 30 federal offenses in connection with the attack and was sentenced to death. His older brother Tamerlan died after a gunfight with police and after Dzhokhar ran him over with a stolen vehicle.
2014: Women's race disqualification Bizunesh Deba of Ethiopia was eventually named women's winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon, following the disqualification of Kenyan Rita Jeptoo from the event due to confirmed doping. Deba finished in a time of 2:19:59, and became the course record holder. Her performance bested that of Margaret Okayo, who ran a time of 2:20:43 in 2002.
2016: Bobbi Gibb as grand marshal In the 2016 Boston Marathon, Jami Marseilles, an American, became the first female double amputee to finish the Boston Marathon. Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966), was the grand marshal of the race. The Women's Open division winner, Atsede Baysa, gave Gibb her trophy; Gibb said that she would go to Baysa's native Ethiopia in 2017 and return it to her.
2020: Cancellation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Boston Marathon was initially rescheduled from April 20 to September 14. It was the first postponement in the more than 100-year uninterrupted history of the event.
On May 28, 2020, it was announced that the rescheduled marathon set for September 14 was canceled. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said of the decision to cancel the race, "There's no way to hold this usual race format without bringing large numbers of people into close proximity. While our goal and our hope was to make progress in containing the virus and recovering our economy, this kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on September 14 or any time this year."
Runners were issued full refunds of entry fees. Organizers later staged a "virtual alternative" in September 2020 as the 124th running of the marathon. This was the second time the marathon's format was modified, the first having been in 1918, when the race was changed from a marathon to a military relay race (ekiden) because of .
2021: Rescheduled to October