How Does the Boston Marathon Work?
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What Is the Boston Marathon?
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The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annually held marathon race, and it is perhaps one of the most well-known global race events, alongside the Tour de France and other major marathons, like the London Marathon and the New York City Marathon. The Boston Marathon is a footrace that takes place over a course of 26.2 miles (the distance of a standard marathon) along winding roads and into the city streets of Boston, Massachusetts. The event was created in 1897 due to the hugely popular running of the first modern marathon event in the 1896 Olympic games in Athens, Greece.
Training and Qualifying
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Training to run any marathon takes a considerable amount of commitment, in terms of both dedication and time. Training to run the Boston Marathon, however, is something not all runners are capable of doing. In earlier years, when marathon running was not nearly as popular, almost anyone could run the Boston Marathon. Whether through official registry or running without an official race number as a "bandit," runners who decided to put themselves up to the feat of attempting a marathon were generally allowed to run the race. Over the past few decades, marathon running has seen an explosion of popularity, with new races popping up each year in states all across the country. With the huge number of marathon runners eager to run the most prestigious race in the country, the Boston Marathon has become more strict about allowing only official registrants to run the race, and also limiting registrants with difficult qualification standards. To qualify to run the Boston Marathon, a male of age 18 to 34 must run a different marathon in a time of 3 hours and 10 minutes or less, while women of the same age group must run another marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes or less. Considering the quick pace needed to attain these times, training for the Boston Marathon is normally only possible for experienced runners who have already completed several marathons.
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Running the Boston Marathon
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Perhaps the most difficult part about running the Boston Marathon is qualifying for it in the first place. Once you are qualified and registered, you need not necessarily duplicate your fast qualifying time to finish the race. There are, however, a number of considerations that make the Boston Marathon uniquely difficult. First is the enormous size of the field of runners. Each year over 20,000 people run the race, making the course extremely crowded with runners, especially over the first few miles. In other marathon races, the field tends to spread out considerably over the course of the race, but since Boston runners are all quite fast, the runners tend to stay bunched up. Also, the Boston Marathon is known for its "heartbreak hill," an uphill stretch that is almost a half mile long that occurs around Mile 20, the mile many people refer to as "the wall," a time when energy levels are usually low and the temptation to quit running is high. The combination of the timing of heartbreak hill and several hills preceding it make the Boston Marathon a difficult marathon course.
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