Mike's Marathon Blog

Just like every other New Englander, I grew up watching and reading about the Boston Marathon. Everyone knows the basic facts about the race and some of the famous (and infamous) names associated with the race such as Johnny Kelley, Bill Rodgers, Uta Pippig and Rosie Ruiz. Everyone knows the race starts in Hopkinton, goes past Wellesley College, up Heartbreak Hill and ends in Boston. Since I would soon be traveling down the same course as many of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport, I wanted to learn everything I could about this prestigious race.

The best book I’ve come across is 26 Miles to Boston. I think the reason I like it so much is because it’s basically my blog, but longer and worded a lot better. It’s about an average guy who trains and runs the marathon. He also details every mile along the course. Along with his witty comments and creative outlook on a 5-hour trek, he includes numerous facts about the event. For instance, do you know why they picked Route 135, Route 16, Comm Ave and Beacon Street as the route for the marathon? “The designed course traveled the same route as Paul Revere’s famous ride in 1775, in which he rode from Boston to Concord to warn the colonists of Massachusetts of the impending attach by the British.” Hence why the marathon is run every year on Patriot’s Day, the holiday commemorating the start of the Revolutionary War. See, you learn something new every day.

I wanted to include one paragraph from Michael Connelly’s book. I’ve only read the book once, but I have probably re-read this paragraph 100 times. I don’t know why. And I find myself reading it more and more as Marathon Monday nears.

“Every April, runners line up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, for the honor of participating in the world’s greatest race. For over a hundred years, athletes have tested themselves against the most demanding twenty-six miles and 385 yards in the running world. Across eight towns, the runners will be asked to call upon muscle and will in order to be granted the privilege of entering Boston. Down slopes and up mountains, around corners and through crowds, the runners will run their own chapters in the long history of the Boston Marathon. The fight will be individual yet collective; the motivations are diverse but essentially the same. The competitors will run east, tracing the steps of a century of forerunners, leaving their own tracks for those who follow.”