Marathon fever hit Boston earlier this week and the street’s of Boston’s BackBay neighborhood are filled with excited runners, visitors and enthusiasts to watch the world’s oldest annual marathon. Unfortunately, the good weather we have enjoyed the past few days appears to be on its way out so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the marathoners and the 500,000+ people the city expects to come in and cheer on runners.
Marathon Monday (held each Patriots’ Day) is a unique holiday universally celebrated in Boston but little known beyond the city limits. Tomorrow I will not be blogging. Rather I will visit a local bar to watch the Red Sox game which begins at 11:05am before I walk over to Mass. and Comm. Ave. to cheer on those running in the 113th Boston Marathon.
Having lived in Boston for more than a decade, this weekend has a lot of meaning and is a wonderful time to be in the city. I would love to welcome people to come and experience Marathon Monday once in their life. It is a fun and unique experience that illustrates Boston’s fierce pride and tradition as well as the city’s love for sports and athletes in general.
If you would like to learn more about the 26.2 mile route or the storied history of the world’s oldest annual marathon, The Boston Globe has a great spread which includes: an interactive guide that breaks down the course mile by mile, photo galleries and videos as well as a spectators guide. To read more link here.
About the Boston Marathon:
Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s most well-known road racing events. It is one of five members of the World Marathon Majors, which also include: London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.
The Red Sox and Yankees meet for the first time this season at Fenway Park tonight. To draw some inspiration and to help keep the Red Sox 7-game winning streak alive, I thought I would post this photograph from October 20, 2004 when the Red Sox did the unimaginable and rallied to make the greatest come back in sports history; defeating the NY Yankees in a best of 7 series after dropping the first 3 games and earning their victory on enemy soil.
