Posts in road race management
FALMOUTH RACE TO ALLOW VIRTUAL PARTICIPANTS

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Amid your rhythmic footfalls, Falmouth Road Race landmarks come and go. The Nobska lighthouse. The flat miles along the Vineyard Sound. The loop around the inner harbor. You check your watch at each mile marker. Right on pace. As the beachside finish nears, the crowds grow larger and louder. You sprint beneath a giant American flag, cross the line 150 yards later, and find a bank of photographers clicking away. Then, with the satisfaction of a race well run, you step off your treadmill.

Read More
BOSTON MARATHON HAD 98 PERCENT COMPLETION RATE

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Monday’s wretched Patriots Day weather – raw, rainy and windy – couldn’t daunt the 27,165 runners who started the 119th Boston Marathon. All but 555 of them crossed the Boylston Street finish line before the timing clock was switched off, a 98 percent completion rate. Of 30,250 registrants, 27,506 picked up their bib numbers and only 341 of them didn’t make it to the Hopkinton starting line. Virtually all of the 9,000 race volunteers turned up and went the distance as well.

Read More
MARATHON MEDICAL TEAM READY TO DEAL WITH WEATHER

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Monday’s weather forecast likely will make for a Tale of Two Races — one for the elite runners who’ll be finishing around noon and another for the five-hour bunch who’ll arrive on Boylston Street after 4 p.m. The former group should remain dry. The latter will be dealing with rain and an easterly wind around 20 miles an hour.

Read More
DAVE MCGILLIVRAY AND HIS TEAM GOT MARATHON OFF TO GREAT START

THE BOSTON GLOBE

HOPKINTON — When the sun rose on Hopkinton Town Common Monday morning, workers already were swarming across the green in preparation for the start of the Boston Marathon. Officials directed orange-jacketed volunteers, who moved barriers alongside the road and set up bags to collect runners’ extra clothes. Later, the volunteers formed a line across the road to hold the runners in check until the starting gun.

Read More
BIG CHANGES FOR BOSTON MARATHON'S WHEELCHAIR DIVISION

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Forty years ago, Bob Hall, a 23-year-old native of Belmont, won the inaugural wheelchair race of the Boston Marathon. He crossed the Boylston Street finish line in 2 hours 58 minutes in a chair that, in comparison with today’s modern race chairs, seemed to have been liberated from a hospital emergency room.

Read More
WHERE DO THE FASTEST BOSTON MARATHONERS LIVE?

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Looking for a fast Boston Marathon qualifying time? Here’s some advice: Train hard and take up residence in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky, or Iowa. Of all the places with more than 100 qualifiers for the 2015 Boston Marathon, those locations produced the fastest times. D.C. led the pack with an average qualifying time of 3 hours 16 minutes 3 seconds. Massachusetts took first state honors with an average of 3:19:06.

Read More
BOSTON MARATHON ORGANIZERS STAYING WARY OF SNOW'S EFFECTS

THE BOSTON GLOBE

NEWTON — With the Boston Marathon 46 days away, debris-filled snow banks line the course and cover popular spectator perches. Snow surrounds the famous statue near Heartbreak Hill that depicts two Johnny Kelleys, young and old. One bronze Kelley wears a Superman T-shirt, the other a Batman T-shirt. The costumes seem oddly appropriate. These days, it seems, readying the course for race day may take superhuman efforts.

Read More