The Boston Marathon

If you’ve heard of one runner’s race, this is probably it. I’ll make you a bet: Within your first year of running, if enough people see you running, eventually one of them is going to ask you, “Whaddya trainin’ for the Boston Marathon?” Another prediction: If you start going to races and let others know about it, eventually one of them will ask, “So, have you run the Boston Marathon?” There’s no more famous race in the world.
Just the Facts
The Boston Marathon starts at noon on Patriot’s Day every year. Patriot’s Day is a New England holiday that commemorates the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775; in Massachusetts, it’s a state holiday, and it falls on the third Monday in April. The race begins in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends in downtown Boston. The Boston Marathon is put on by the Boston Athletic Association. For an application, write BAA Boston Marathon, The Starting Line, One Ash Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748-1897; or visit the Web site, http://www.boston-marathon.org.
What’s So Special About Boston?
The Boston Marathon has it all: more than a century of history, a great course, and spectacular spectators. For average runners, it’s unique among marathons in that it has qualifying standards. The standards were introduced in 1971 to make the size of the field more manageable. The qualifying time has to be run on an accurately measured course within just more than a year before the Boston Marathon that you want to participate in.
The current standards are shown in the following list:
These standards are tough! For example, if you’re a woman under the age of 35, you have to run 26.2 miles at an average pace of 8:25 per mile or faster. Older folks certainly don’t get a break: a 70-year-old man has to average about 8:45 a mile for 26.2 miles just to make it to Boston’s starting line.
But rather than resent these standards, most runners I know appreciate them. After a few years of running, a lot of runners look at qualifying for Boston as their personal Olympics. Even if they make it just once in their lives, or even if they fall short, they value the challenge that the Boston qualifying standards offer. If only for this once in their running life, they like the idea of having this inflexible goal that they’re willing to make great sacrifices to meet.
The most special thing about Boston is its course and the crowds that line it. You start in a small, New England village and then make your way through several towns with names that have meaning to all marathoners: Ashland, Framingham, Natick, and so on. Near halfway, you pass an all-women’s college, Wellesley, where the roar from the students was so loud that when three-time champion Ibrahim Hussein passed through in 1992, he covered his ears. Then it’s the famous Newton Hills, finishing with Heartbreak Hill, which crests at 21 miles. From its top, you have five mostly downhill miles to the finish right near Copley Square in downtown Boston.