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Boston Marathon

A guide to resources about the Marathon available at the BPL and beyond.

First Marathon

Held on April 19, 1897, the first Boston Marathon had fifteen runners who started at Metcalf's Mill in Ashland and finished at the Irvington Street Oval in Boston. The winner was John J. McDermott of New York.

Image Credit:
Excerpt from 1895 Bromley Atlas of Boston showing approximate location of 1897 Boston Marathon finish line.

1918 Military Relay

In 1918, as a way of showing support for the men fighting overseas in World War One, the BAA cancelled the marathon and instead held a military relay race. Fourteen teams of ten men competed with each man running 2.5 miles. The team from Camp Devens was victorious, completing the marathon route in 2:24:53.

The 2018 marathon featured a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of this event as part of the BAA’s Year of Service, with eight pairs of runners representing all branches of the U.S. military and the eight cities and towns on the marathon route running 3 or 4 miles each. They finished in 3:55:13.

Rosie Ruiz Scandal

At the 1980 marathon, Rosie Ruiz was the apparent winner in the women’s division with a time of 2:31:56. After displaying behavior atypical of a female marathon finisher, and amid growing suspicions that she had previously cheated at the New York Marathon, a BAA investigation determined that Ruiz had not in fact won and she was stripped of the title. First place was then awarded to Jacqueline Gareau who had a time of 2:34:28, a new course record.

The Duel in the Sun

Cuban-born and Wayland- raised Alberto Salazar won the 1982 Boston Marathon in an exciting fashion, in what has become known as the “duel in the sun.” Salazar was neck and neck with Dick Beardsley for much of the race on an unseasonably warm April day. Salazar, who was unused to the weather and severely dehydrated, sprinted ahead in the final yards to win the race with a time of 2:08:52. He finished only one tenth of a second ahead of Beardsley. He had not drunk any water for the last eight miles and required several liters of IV fluids to recover.

100th Marathon

In celebration of the 100th running of the Boston Marathon the field was expanded to 38,708 official entrants.  35,868 finished the race, marking the largest field of finishers in the history of the race. Uta Pippig of Germany overcame severe dehydration and other physical ailments to become the first woman to officially win three consecutive Boston marathons.

COVID-19

In 2020, for the first time ever, the Boston Marathon was postponed and ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Race organizers later held a virtual event, in which registered runners could run 26.2 miles in one continuous run wherever they were from September 5-14. All those who completed the virtual marathon received their finisher medals and were recognized as official Boston Marathon finishers. Almost 90% of the runners who had been registered for the race participated and finished, representing 83 countries all over the world.

In 2021, the Boston Marathon was postponed until October 11th, with a reduced field of 20,000 entrants. This marked the first time the marathon was held in the fall.

A virtual marathon was also offered with up to 70,000 entrants, to be completed from October 8-10.