Lifestyle Flow Node

Boston Marathon

Hopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts

Legendary · held by 181 collectors

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and the most selective of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors — a 42.195-kilometre race held annually on Patriots' Day (the third Monday of April), running from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in Boston since 1897, with a field of approximately 30,000 runners of whom the majority must qualify by running a previous marathon below time standards that vary by age and gender (the qualifying standards are periodically tightened as demand exceeds capacity), making Boston the only major whose entry requires demonstrated performance rather than lottery luck. The Boston Marathon's course is the most topographically demanding of the six majors: the net elevation loss from Hopkinton to Boston (138 metres) that rewards the first half's downhill running is offset by the Newton Hills sequence (miles 16–21), culminating in Heartbreak Hill at mile 20, which is positioned at the point in the race where glycogen depletion is most likely — creating a physiological and psychological test that the race's qualifying standard structure ensures only experienced runners face.

Marathon · Boston · Heritage · Running · New England