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Just up ahead, check out the return of the traditional spring run of the 2024 Boston Marathon with background on the course, best viewing locations, and how to watch it at home on TV and streaming services, along with Boston Marathon trivia and fun facts,
As usual, look for live television coverage featured on local CBS station WBZ promising complete wire-to-wire action from 8:30AM to 12:30PM with nationwide coverage on ESPN.
What sets the Boston Marathon apart from other big urban foot races is that not just anybody can enter. Runners must submit proof of qualifying times from another marathon, and there are other criteria that must be met before competing in the big leagues. C'mon, this is Boston! Along with admiring the runners speed and endurance, celebrity spotting is a big part of the fun on race day, so keep it here for updates as race day draws near. Inspired by the marathon at the first Olympic Games in 1896, the city held its first Boston marathon on April 18, 1897 to commemorate the famous 1775 ride of colonial patriot, Paul Revere. One of the few remaining runs that maintain qualifying times & requirements, the Boston Marathon features an historic course starting on Main Street in rural Hopkinton and winds its way through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley - with an agonizing stretch up Newton's Heartbreak Hill (one of the steepest inclines in any major marathon) before finishing in Boston near the John Hancock Tower at Copley Square. Best viewing in Boston includes locations on Rte. 30, Beacon St., or anywhere along the break-neck chase to the finish on Boylston St. The general rule of thumb is that, the nearer to Boston, the bigger the crowds - and the more amplified the energy and excitement!
• More than 500,000 spectators (or about 80 percent of Boston's population) line the course each year making it one of the USA's best-attended marathons. • Even celebrities who run in Boston have to meet strict rules for qualifying. Some of them have included Will Ferrell, Valerie Bertinelli, and Lance Armstrong. • While Heartbreak Hill - at 263 feet above sea level - is the most infamous stretch in the marathon, it isn't really the highest point. That honor belongs to the starting line in Hopkinton - at 463 feet above sea level. But Heartbreak Hill comes late in the race as endurance levels almost hit bottom. • $150,000 in prize money goes to both the men's and women's winners. Second place finishers gets $75,000. • Two terrorist bombs that detonated near the finish line in 2013 took three lives and injured more than 260 athletes and spectators. Undaunted, the city hosted its historic marathon the following year with thousands of spectators coming out in force under the banner "Boston Strong".
Elsewhere on the Web, find out more about the Boston Marathon with links to current news and updates, a virtual tour of the route, plus plenty of background info, and a bit of trivia on the oldest running event in sports history. 2025 Boston Marathon - Here's the official site with the latest results & updates plus recent photos and galleries of pictures from marathons past, related fun facts, current registration details, info on the Half-Marathon, and marathon weekend event news.. Boston.com Marathon Coverage - Complete results with feature stories, stats and standings by category including men, women, seniors and wheelchair runners, plus a comprehensive course description in the Boston Marathon virtual tour. MarathonGuide.com - Great coverage of the all the major races throughout the year. Check out Boston Marathon results on race day along with feature articles, running calculators and other training advice, community bulletin board. Heartbreak Hill Striders Running Club - Online community of marathon veterans with an extensive online course featuring interactive training tools and workout schedules, race pace calculator, racetime predictors and related help for hopeful contenders. Running Past - The 2nd Boston Marathon - Archived report from the old Boston Sunday Journal, with an account of the 1898 race - including pictures of front runners and everybody's favorite marathon factoid - the winner, Ronald MacDonald. |
