The Boston Marathon is now underway, AP reports.
The race, is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in the Greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts. Defending champion Wesley Korir was among those leaving Hopkinton at 10 a.m. Just behind the elite men was the remainder of a field of 27,000 on its way for the 26.2-mile trek to Boston's Back Bay. Americans Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher left about 30 minutes earlier, both hoping to be the first U.S. winner at the world's oldest annual marathon, since 1985. The temperature was 48 degrees at the start, with a few clouds in the sky, perfect conditions for the 117th running of the race. Race day got started with 26 seconds of silence in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. A little more than 2 hours later, the lead runners will go past the Mile 26 marker, which has been decorated with the Newtown, Conn., seal and dedicated to the memory of those killed there. The 53 wheelchair competitors left Hopkinton at 9:17 a.m., followed 15 minutes later by the 51 elite women. The men were under way at 10 a.m., followed by three waves that over the next 40 minutes would send the entire field of 27,000 on its way to Copley Square. A group of four women broke away early, with Goucher and Flanagan in the pack about 50 yards behind as they passed from Ashland into Framingham around Mile 4. Defending champions Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop were back, trying to continue a quarter-century of Kenyan dominance in the race. Flanagan, of nearby Marblehead, is vying to be the first U.S. winner since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach won in 1985; no American man has won since Greg Meyer in 1983. Held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. It was inspired from 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 best-known road racing events starting from 1987. It is one of six World Marathon Majors.
Friday, June 13, 2025
