The Boston Marathon was today and I was following the action at work to see which Kenyan will win. (a Kenyan did win. Robert Cheruiyot won for the fourth time and finished in 2:07)
But aside from all the pros who come year after year from all over the world, there are a lot of regular runners who train to qualify for boston for years. boston marathon got so popular that runners need to qualify by finishing another marathon in a set time. for my age group, women need to finish in 3hr40mins... thats running roughly 8 minute miles. men in the 18-35 group need to run a 3:10 marathon... roughly 7 minute miles.
not to compare myself, but just to put things in perspective, a lot of armatures run to finish - which means they train just so they can physically drag themselves for 26.2 miles. The SF Marathon has a time-limit because it is run on city streets and the course will be closed after 6 hours... about 13:30 mins/mile is the pace for finishing in just under 6 hours.
The Boston Marathon has been going on Patriots' Day (3rd Monday of April) since 1897. This officially makes it the oldest road race since it started one year after the first marathon event at the 1896 Olympics. women weren't allowed to run in boston marathon and in 1967 a women registered with her initials and got a race number. race officials tackled her and tried to take her out of the race once they noticed her, but she finished. It wasnt until 1972 that women were officially allowed to race in Boston and subsequently other long-distance road races.
if you are intrigued by all these facts, there is plenty on info on www.bostonmarathon.org/
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Really? They tackled her? For trying to run a race?
Yet another reason to hate Boston.
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