On Monday, April 18, 2011, also known locally as Patriot’s Day, the Boston Marathon will be run for the 115th consecutive time. Begun in 1897, the Boston Marathon, which is organized by the Boston Athletic Association, is the world’s oldest marathon.
This year, when the gun goes off in Hopkinton, over 26,000 runners, representing athletes from every state in the nation and over 90 countries, will begin running those 26.2 miles to the Boston Public Library. It’s estimated that over a half-million spectators will line the course and cheer them on.
We’re especially proud of all our staff at Harvard Vanguard who are running on Monday – have a great race!
The Boston Marathon has a long and storied history and a number of firsts – all in all, it offers a lot for New Englanders to be proud of. So, for everyone who has a bit of marathon fever or would like to celebrate a part of who we are, here are some “fun facts” about this great race:
The early days: The official title of the Boston Marathon is the Boston Athletic Association (or B.A.A.) Marathon. The B.A.A. started the marathon after a few members returned from the 1896 Olympics in Athens and were inspired by the experience. The original starting line was not in Hopkinton, but in Ashland on a side road off the current route. Fifteen runners started the first race in 1897, but only 10 were credited with finishing. The winner of the first Boston Marathon was Irish-born John J. McDermott, a member of the Pastime Athletic Club of New York. His 2:55:10 time set a “world record,” beating the 2:58:50 time set by Spiridon Loues at the Olympics.
The course: The Boston Marathon course passes through nine separate communities: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Wellesley Hills, Newton, Brookline and Boston. Only the last few miles lie within Boston proper. If the race were named after the community containing the most course miles, it would be called the Newton Marathon. The B.A.A. patterned its course after the original marathon in Greece – not only in distance, but also in topography. The course from Marathon to Athens was relatively flat until halfway, then featured a series of hills to near 20 miles, followed by a descent to the Olympic Stadium. The high point of the Boston Marathon course is 462.6 feet above sea level at the Hopkinton start. The course drops to 49.2 feet at Newton Lower Falls (16 miles), rises to 236.2 feet as it crests Heartbreak Hill (20.6 miles), then dips to 13.1 feet with a half-mile to go. The finish-line elevation is 16.4 feet.
Heartbreak Hill: Jerry Nason, a reporter with the Boston Globe, is credited for the name of the Marathon’s most infamous landmark. In the 1936 race, John A. Kelley came from behind and caught up with Ellison “Tarzan” Brown on this, the final Newton hill. Kelley gave Brown a consolatory pat as he pulled even with Brown. This apparently fired Brown’s competitive streak and second wind, and he pulled ahead and won the race. Nason wrote about this moment and this place “breaking Kelley’s heart,” and the name ”Heartbreak Hill” stuck.
The Crowds: Although runners were few in number during Boston’s early years, spectators crowded the course from the beginning. The Boston Globe reported 100,000 spectators in 1902, twice that number the following year. The tradition of Wellesley College students cheering marathoners began the first year. The loudest cheers in 1897 were for Dick Grant, a Harvard University track athlete who led past the college. He dropped out several miles later.
Most Wins: Clarence H. DeMar has the most Boston victories at 7 wins. He won his first Boston Marathon in 1911 at age 22, with his last victory coming in 1930 at age 41. DeMar ran his final Boston Marathon in 1954 at age 65, finishing in just under 4 hours. In total, Clarence DeMar ran the Boston Marathon 32 times. Robert K. Cheruiyot of Kenya holds the fastest course time at 2:05:52 for his 2010 run.
Most Marathons: DeMar was 65 when he ran his last Boston Marathon, but at that age, John A. Kelley was just warming up. Kelley’s remarkable marathon career spanned eight decades. Beginning in 1928 and ending in 1992, he started Boston 61 times, failing to finish on only three of those occasions. He won Boston twice, took second seven times and finished in the top-10 18 times. Six of those top-10 finishes came after the age of 40, one after 50.
Women Champions: Between 1966 and 1971, Roberta Gibb and Sara Mae Berman each “won” Boston three times – or at least were the first women to cross the line in those years. They were never officially recognized as champions. Under existing rules, women were “forbidden to run long distances.” The B.A.A. still lists the names of Gibb and Berman in its press kit with the appellation “unofficial.” The first woman to “officially” win Boston after the rules changed was Nina Kuscsik in 1972. Her time was 3:10:26. Margaret Okayo of Kenya holds the fastest women’s time at 2:20:43, set in 2002.
Wheelchair Champions: The first person in a wheelchair to “run” Boston was Eugene Roberts of Baltimore in 1970. Starting in the back row, he finished in 7 hours. Boston’s Bob Hall became the first official wheelchair champion when the division was added in 1975 (another first for Boston), his time just breaking 3 hours. Today’s wheelchair racers use high-tech chairs to achieve much faster times. The men’s record is 1:18:27 by Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa in 2004; the women’s is 1:34:22 by Jean Driscoll of Champaign, Illinois in 1994.
Impostor: The marathon was first plagued by a cheater in 1909, but the most visible and infamous impostor was Rosie Ruiz. In 1980, Ruiz appeared out of nowhere at the 25-mile mark to steal the victory from Jacqueline Gareau. After reviewing all information for 10 days, B.A.A. officials finally disqualified Ruiz and gave Gareau the laurel wreath she deserved.
Media Coverage: The Boston Marathon is the second biggest single-day sporting event in the U.S., only trailing the Super Bowl for total on-site coverage.
Gun: The marathon starting gun fired today is a .38 caliber police revolver with an attached transducer. When the pistol is fired, the transducer sends an electronic signal to clocks along the course and triggers a prerecorded and magnified howitzer explosion that can be heard by runners lined up far behind the official starting line. Quite different from 1897, when first starter Thomas E. Burke used his heel to draw a line in the dirt and said, “Go!”