It’s Patriot’s Day and you know what that means… the 114th Boston Marathon will be run through the streets and cities of New England. Over 26,000 men and women will try to complete one of the most difficult 42 km marathon races and the winner will be crowned with a wreath of olive branches.
Marathon Money
Boston's Best
The event has been running since 1897 and it is the oldest annual marathon across the globe. It used to be a free event, but since the 1980s the race has become sponsored by corporations and now the top 15 runners, including $100,000 going to the winner, will win over $500,000 in cash. The race is one of the greatest road races and is part of the 5 World Marathon Majors.
Heartbreak Hill
Tarzan's Trot
The Boston Marathon is known to be one of the most difficult races because of the dreaded Newton Hills. Half way through the race, there are four long tall hills including “Heartbreak Hill” , a 600 meter inclining rising just over 27 meters. They call it “Heartbreak Hill” because of the 1936 race when Tarzan Brown passed previous champion John A. Kelley after John had made an amazing pass past Tarzan on the hill. Tarzan was said to have broken John’s heart after he regained the lead and then won the race easily.
Vexing Volcano
Icelandic Ash
The heartbreak this year will be the number of runners missing the race completely due to all the flight cancellations because of the Icelandic Volcano eruptions. Runners traveling from all over the world are stranded in airports because of the volcanic ash dangerously preventing planes from flying. Hundreds of runners are racing just to get to the starting line, but most of them will have to wait until next year because they won't get to Boston on time. The good news is that they will automatically be entered to next year’s marathon.
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