Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is an annual long-distance footrace held on Patriots' Day in the greater Boston area of Massachusetts. It is hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston and is traditionally held on the third Monday of April. 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 seven World Marathon Majors. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) every year since its debut, the race draws elite competitors and amateur runners alike from across the globe, tracing a point-to-point course through some of eastern Massachusetts's most storied communities before concluding on the celebrated Boylston Street finish line.

Origins and Founding

The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Established on March 15, 1887, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) was founded with the purpose of promoting physical activity and "manly" sports. The marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 served as the inspiration for the B.A.A. Boston Marathon. John Graham, coach and manager of the B.A.A. athletes, was a keen observer of the Marathon-to-Athens Race and returned to Boston with plans to institute a strikingly similar long-distance run the following spring.

With the assistance of Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton, various routes were considered, before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston was eventually selected. On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott emerged from a 15-member starting field and captured the first B.A.A. Marathon in 2:55:10. The race was originally called the "American Marathon" and served as the closing event of the B.A.A. Games, a broader athletic festival.

In 1924, the course was lengthened to 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to the Olympic standard, and the starting line was moved west from Ashland to Hopkinton. The standardization of that distance traces back to a memorable chapter in Olympic history: King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra wanted the marathon race to begin at Windsor Castle outside the city so that the Royal family could view the start. The distance between the castle and the Olympic Stadium in London proved to be 26 miles. Organizers added extra yards to the finish around a track, 385 to be exact, so the runners would finish in front of the king and queen's royal box.

The race was held first in 1897 and annually thereafter on Patriots' Day (originally April 19; from 1969 the third Monday in April), which commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775) in the American Revolutionary War.

The Course

Both the start and finish lines have been moved over the years, but much of the course remains exactly as it was originally designed more than a century ago. Since 1924 the race has started in the town of Hopkinton, and from there descends through Ashland, Framingham, Natick and Wellesley. Upon entering Newton, the course gradually rises to the famous Heartbreak Hill. As participants reach the top, they can see downtown Boston for the first time, four miles in the distance. After running through Brookline, the course enters Boston where it finishes on historic Boylston Street.

The last of Newton's hills was given the nickname "Heartbreak Hill" by Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason. When John A. Kelley caught eventual champion Ellison "Tarzan" Brown on the Newton hills, Kelley made a friendly gesture of tapping Brown on the shoulder. Brown responded by regaining the lead on the final hill, and as Nason reported, "breaking Kelley's heart."

Located between miles 20 and 21, the infamous hill is known for its challenging incline late in the race. Despite its name, the hill only rises 91 feet.

One of the race's most beloved traditions occurs at the midpoint of the course. At Wellesley College, a historically women's college, it is traditional for the students to cheer on the runners in what is referred to as the Scream Tunnel. For about a quarter of a mile, the students line the course, scream, and offer kisses. The Scream Tunnel is so loud runners claim it can be heard from a mile away. The tunnel is roughly half a mile prior to the halfway mark of the course.

Participation, Qualification, and Growth

Starting with just 15 participants in 1897, the event has grown to an average of about 30,000 registered participants each year. With approximately 500,000 spectators, the Boston Marathon is New England's most widely viewed sporting event.

One of the reasons that the Boston Marathon is so prestigious is that participants must qualify to run. This means that you must have already run a marathon at a certain pace. Because of that, impressive runners from all over the world consider it a worthy race. Qualifying standards were introduced for the Boston Marathon in 1970, requiring certification to prove that each runner would be able to finish the race in under four hours. Today, qualifying standards range from three hours (for men ages 18–34) to five hours and 20 minutes (for women and non-binary individuals ages 80+).

The all-time record for the world's largest marathon was established at the centennial race in 1996, when 35,868 finishers out of 36,748 official starters participated in the 100th running of the Boston Marathon. The Centennial Boston Marathon had 38,708 entrants and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

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. However, corporate-sponsored cash prizes began to be awarded in the 1980s, when professional athletes refused to run the race unless a cash award was available. The first cash prize for winning the marathon was awarded in 1986.

The race is also a major philanthropic engine. More than $50.4 million has been fundraised through the Bank of America Official Charity Program, supported by over 10,000 volunteers who support the Boston Marathon year in and year out.

Inclusion and Social Progress

The Boston Marathon has played a significant role in the evolution of distance running as an inclusive sport. Women were not allowed to enter the Boston race officially until 1972, but Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb couldn't wait: In 1966, she became the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon, but had to hide in the bushes near the start until the race began. 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, 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.

The following year, Kathrine Switzer officially entered using her initials and famously faced an attempt by race official Jock Semple to remove her from the course. Switzer's defiance helped pave the way for women's official entry in 1972. Nina Kuscsik became the first official female participant to win the Boston Marathon in 1972.

The Boston Marathon became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division competition when it officially recognized Bob Hall in 1975. With a time of two hours, 58 minutes, he collected on a promise by then Race Director Will Cloney that if he finished in less than three hours, he would receive an official B.A.A. Finisher's Certificate. American wheelchair competitors Jean Driscoll and Jim Knaub helped to further establish and popularize the division.

Kenya's Ibrahim Hussein finished one second ahead of Tanzania's Juma Ikangaa, and became the first African to win the Boston Marathon, or any other major marathon, a milestone in 1988 that ushered in an era of East African dominance at the race. In 2022, Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir became the fourth woman and fifth athlete to win both the Boston Marathon and Olympic Marathon titles. With her Boston win, Jepchirchir became the first athlete in history to win Olympic, Boston, and New York City Marathon titles across their career.

The 2013 Bombing and "Boston Strong"

No history of the Boston Marathon is complete without acknowledging the tragedy of April 15, 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon approximately five hours after the race started, resulting in three deaths and more than 260 injured spectators and participants. The subsequent search for the suspects in the terrorist bombing led to a deadly shoot-out and a manhunt that shut down the Greater Boston area for a day.

In 2013 the overall finish rate was just 65.58%, due to the Boston Marathon bombing. 5,633 runners were stopped on the course and did not cross the finish line. The attack became a defining moment for the city, giving rise to the phrase "Boston Strong" as a rallying cry for unity and resilience. The race returned the following year in 2014 with record participation and heightened security, reaffirming the event's place at the heart of Boston's civic identity.

COVID-19 Disruptions

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. The Boston Marathon went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 16,183 runners around the world completed 26.2 miles at home.

Because of COVID, the 2021 race was the first in-person Boston Marathon not held in April. Instead, it was run on Monday, October 11, 2021. The race returned to its traditional April timeslot in 2022. The 130th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America is scheduled to take place on Patriots' Day, Monday, April 20, 2026.