Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon, footrace from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, U.S., to the Back Bay section of Boston, a distance of 42,195 metres (26 miles 385 yards). The world’s oldest annual marathon, it was held first in 1897 and annually thereafter on Patriots’ Day (originally April 19; from 1969 the third Monday in April), which commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775) in the American Revolutionary War. The Boston Marathon is one of the world’s six major marathons, along with the New York City, Chicago, Berlin, London, and Tokyo marathons. It is sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association. Runners (some 20,000 in the early 21st century, as opposed to about 200 in 1960) come from all over the world to participate.

Boston Marathon; Catherine Ndereba

The marathon’s first winner was John J. McDermott, who completed the 24.5-mile (39.4-km) race in less than three hours. The race length was increased to its current distance in 1927. In 1966 Roberta Gibb became the first woman to complete the race, though she ran without an official number. In 1967 Kathy Switzer, who had given her name as K.V. Switzer on the race application, was issued an official number and completed the marathon, although the race director tried to have her removed from the course. In 1972 the Boston Marathon became the first marathon race officially to admit women runners. Three years later it became the first major marathon to hold a wheelchair race.

In 2013 two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon approximately five hours after the race started, resulting in three deaths and more than 260 injured spectators and participants. The subsequent search for the suspects in the terrorist bombing led to a deadly shoot-out and a manhunt that shut down the Greater Boston area for a day.

Winners of the Boston Marathon are provided in the table.