The Boston marathon is the most amazing road marathon in the world. On Sunday 28th July the runners of Sydney
will honour those who lost their lives in the bombings this year & support the people of Boston. Run for Humanity http://bayrunforhumanity.wordpress.com/
#BayRun28July #RunForBoston #OneBoston
7 amazing facts on the Boston Marathon
1 – Boston is the oldest annually run marathon in the world. It began in 1897, inspired by the 1896 Athens marathon of the first modern Olympic Games, 
and has been run every year ever since. 2013 was the 117th edition of the race. While other big name marathons such as London, Berlin & New York have been around a mere 40yrs Boston is the granddaddy of them all.
2 – Boston is the most difficult road marathon to qualify for & also the most revered race. With qualifying times of <3:05 for males under 35, & <3:35 for females under 35 it is a goal many runners aspire to worldwide. The qualifying time graduate with increasing age brackets. http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/qualifying/qualifying-standards.aspx
3 – The fastest ever marathon was run in Boston in 2011 by Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya. The time, an astonishing 2:03:02 is not a recognised world record due to a strong tailwind, the point to point nature & downhill profile of the course. Patrick Makau, also of Kenya, set the marathon world record at Berlin in 2011 with a time if 2:03:38.
4 – Women were not officially allowed to run the Boston marathon until 1972, partly due to misguided 
medical advice, fear & just a touch of sexism. The first Olympic womens marathon was in 1984!! In 1966 Bobbi Gibb jumped from behind the bushes the join the race at the start, disguised in her brothers shorts & hooded jumper. She finished 126th overall.
In 1967 Katherine Switzer made headlines when she ran the race having officially entered as ‘K.V.Switzer’. The infamous photo (left) of race director Jock Semple attempting to remove her form the race, much to the disagreeance of Switzer’s Footballing all-American boyfriend running beside her, who promptly tackled him out of the way.
5 – The Wellesley college scream tunnel is an iconic mid race phenomenon where the women of Wellesley college gather to cheer on the runners. A modern tradition for the Wellesley girls is to kiss a runner. It’s said they can’t graduate if they haven’t missed at least 1 runner while they’ve been at college. Needless to say competition is fierce on race day!
6 – Deek in 1986! 
Australia’s own Robert de Castella won the Boston marathon in 1986. In one of the most dominant performances at Boston Deek led from the start and finished more than 3mins (1km) in front on his nearest rival. His time of 2:07:51 was over a minute faster then his rival Alberto Salazaar’s best time at Boston. 1986 also saw the first year of prizemoney at Boston. In 2014 the mens winner stands to win $150,000 with additional bonuses for course records.
7 – Heartbreak hill, the 4th and final rise of the Newton hills, which takes runners up to Boston College approx 32-34km (20-21 miles) into the race. Just where many people hit the wall. The name was first coined in 1936 when defending champion John Kelley passed Ellison ‘Tarzan’ Brown and gave him a pat on the shoulder. This motivated Brown to surge again up the last hill, beating Kelley & ‘breaking his heart’.
The heartbreak hill in Sydney’s City2Surf, the worlds largest fun run (in number of participants) was names after the hill in Boston. Sydney’s heartbreak hill is also one several hills and has broke many a runners heart over the 30yrs of the race.
Why am I writing about the Boston Marathon in July?
To remind the runners of Sydney of the Run for Humanity on Sun 28th July. http://bayrunforhumanity.wordpress.com/
Join us in support of the people of Boston on Sun 28th July 2013. Together with 2 others the 3 of you can complete a marathon & honour the 3 people killed in the Boston bombings earlier this year. For event details visit http://bayrunforhumanity.wordpress.com/
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