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What makes The Boston Marathon ‘The Greatest Foot Race on Earth’?
The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors.
The Boston Marathon is an annually hosted by several cities in Greater Boston in eastern state of Massachusetts, USA and It is always held on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday of April.
The event was inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, and began in 1897, by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) which to this day manages the event.
With approximately 500,000 spectators, the Boston Marathon is New England’s most widely viewed sporting event
For the entire distance of the race, thousands line the sides of the course to cheer the runners on, encourage them, and provide free water and snacks to any of the runners. The crowds are even more encouraging for the amateur runners and first time runners.
It is a tradition that at Mile 21 Boston College students drink to the accomplishments of the runners and enthusiastically cheer them on.
Other than being really old….The Boston Marathon has other features that make it the greatest on earth.
World’s largest marathon
The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world’s largest marathon with 38,708 entrants, 36,748 starters, and 35,868 finishers.
The Scream Tunnel
At Wellesley College, a women’s college, it is traditional for the students to cheer on the runners in what is referred to as the Scream Tunnel. For about a quarter of a mile (400 m), the female students line the course, scream, and offer kisses. The Scream Tunnel is so loud it can be heard from a mile away. The tunnel is roughly half a mile (0.8 km) prior to the halfway mark of the course.
No wonder so many finish the marathon.
Stadium of Runners
Every year, the local Baseball team -The Boston Red Sox play a home game at - Fenway Park Stadium, starting at 11:05 am. When the game ends, the crowd empties into nearby Kenmore Square to cheer as the runners enter the final mile. This tradition started in 1903.
Dick and Rick Hoyt
One of the most recognized duos each year at the Boston Marathon, awaited by hordes of spectators, is Dick and Rick Hoyt.
Dick is the father of Rick, who has cerebral palsy. While doctors said he would never have a normal life and thought that institutionalizing Rick was the best option, Dick and his wife disagreed and raised him as an ordinary child. Eventually a computer device was developed that helped Rick communicate with his family, and they learned that one of his biggest passions was sports.
“Team Hoyt” (Dick and Rick) started competing in charity runs, with Dick pushing Rick in a wheelchair. Dick and Rick have competed in 66 marathons and 229 triathlons (as of August 2008). Their top marathon finish was 2:40:47. The team completed their 30th Boston Marathon in 2012, when Dick was 72 and Rick was 50.
Bandits
Unlike many other races, the Boston Marathon tolerates bandits, or runners who do not register and pay an entry fee.
They are held back until after all the registered runners have left the starting line, and then are released in an unofficial fourth wave. They are also not pulled off the course and are allowed to cross the finish line.
For the 2014 Marathon, however, organizers plan to discourage bandits from running “more than ever”.
| A Rosie Scandal-Scandal hit the Boston Marathon in 1980 when amateur runner Rosie Ruiz came from out of nowhere to win the women’s race. Marathon officials became suspicious when it was found Ruiz did not appear in race videotapes until near the end of the race. A subsequent investigation concluded that Ruiz had skipped most of the race. Subsequent investigations found that she rode the subway during the New York Marathon six month earlier, the very race that allowed her to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Ruiz was officially disqualified, and the winner was proclaimed to be Canadian Jacqueline Gareau |
Costumes
A number of people choose to run the course in a variety of costumes each year
A group of runners sponsored by the hamburger restaurant “b.good” has run since 2008 while wearing large foam hamburgers around their waists. Over the first four years they ran to benefit a number of charities, and in 2013 the b.good family foundation was formed to disperse the funds raised.
Some other interesting and novel costume ideas from the Boston Marathon.
Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a brutally difficult task
Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is such a common goal among runners that the slang “BQ” — short for Boston Qualifier — is an easily recognized acronym by most runners.
Check out these Indian runners who are doing the nation proud.
