Boston Marathon

Assembled from 68 blocks · 2 evidence · 53 related

1. Story
2. The oldest annual marathon in the world, first run on 19 April 1897 and held every year since. The first race went from Ashland to the Irvington Oval near Copley Square over about 24.5 miles (39.4 km) with 15 starters, and was won by John J. McDermott in 2:55:10. The start moved west to Hopkinton in 1924 when the course was lengthened to the standardised 42.195 km. The modern course is point-to-point and steeply net downhill: it starts at about 145 m above sea level on Hopkinton Town Common and finishes at about 5 m on Boylston Street, losing roughly 130 feet in the first mile alone, then climbing the four Newton hills between about 27 and 34 km, the last of which is Heartbreak Hill. The profile punishes runners who spend the early descent, and it disqualifies the course from world records: the drop is roughly three times the permitted 1 m per km, and start and finish are about 39 km apart in a straight line against a 21.1 km limit. Boston is also the only Major to require a qualifying time from most entrants.
3. Knowledge
4. Record-eligible road course criteria
5. Boston Marathon
6. New York City Marathon
7. Boston
8. Abbott World Marathon Majors
9. Boston Athletic Association
10. The first modern Olympic marathon, Marathon to Athens
11. Connections
12. The temperature penalty in marathon running
13. New York City Marathon
14. Record-eligible road course criteria
15. The first modern Olympic marathon, Marathon to Athens
16. Boston
17. Abbott World Marathon Majors
18. Boston Athletic Association
19. The first Boston Marathon
20. Boston lengthens its course and moves the start to Hopkinton
21. Women run Boston, unofficially and then officially
22. The World Marathon Majors series is announced
23. Bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line
24. Boston Marathon
25. Fred Lebow
26. London Marathon
27. The mass-participation city marathon
28. New York City
29. Abbott World Marathon Majors
30. New York Road Runners
31. The first New York City Marathon, in Central Park
32. New York goes to five boroughs
33. New York is remeasured and two world bests are voided
34. The World Marathon Majors series is announced
35. World Athletics
36. Boston Marathon
37. Tokyo Marathon
38. Tokyo redesigns its course for speed
39. Boston Marathon
40. Pheidippides
41. Spyridon Louis
42. The 1908 Olympic marathon fixes 26 miles 385 yards
43. Marathon and the Tumulus of the Athenians
44. Spyridon Louis
45. Pheidippides
46. Boston Marathon
47. Boston Athletic Association
48. The first Boston Marathon
49. Bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line
50. Boston Marathon
51. London Marathon
52. Berlin Marathon
53. Chicago Marathon
54. New York City Marathon
55. Tokyo Marathon
56. The World Marathon Majors series is announced
57. Tokyo becomes the sixth Major
58. Sydney runs its first race as the seventh Major
59. Cape Town is confirmed as the eighth Major
60. Cape Town scheduled to run as a Major
61. Boston Marathon
62. Boston
63. The first Boston Marathon
64. Boston lengthens its course and moves the start to Hopkinton
65. Women run Boston, unofficially and then officially
66. Evidence
67. The Boston Marathon was first run on 19 April 1897 from Ashland over about 24.5 miles, won by John J. McDermott in 2:55:10; the course was lengthened and the start moved to Hopkinton in 1924; Bobbi Gibb ran unofficially in 1966, Kathrine Switzer with a bib in 1967, and women were admitted officially in 1972. V55 verification basis: baa.org was refused by this session's egress proxy; the page was read only through attributed search summaries and contemporary Boston Globe reporting cited within them.
68. A record-eligible road course must have start and finish no further apart in a straight line than 50 percent of the race distance, and a net elevation decrease no greater than 1 m per km. V55 verification basis: read through an attributed search summary; the current World Athletics rule number and revision date were not confirmed.