Boston Marathon ~ 2014

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in Greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts. It is always held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six  World Marathon Majors. Amateur and professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly New England terrain and varying weather to take part in the race. The event attracts 500,000 spectators each year, making it New England's most widely viewed sporting event. The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world's largest marathon with 36,748 starters and 35,868 finishers.

At the 2013 edition on April 15, a series of two attacks targeted spectators and attendees of the city's annual marathon race. Two pressure cooker bombs exploded at about 12 seconds and 210 yards (190 m) apart, near the finish line on Boylston Street, killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others.

One week from the Boston tragedy, on 22nd of April 2013, I was at the start of the London marathon (also one of the World Marathon Majors), together with Stanislav and his beautiful wife Tania. I was running the London marathon hoping to obtain a time that would allow me to qualify to apply for an entrance at Boston Marathon, my dream as a runner. All runners in London were dedicating the race to the victims of the Boston tragedy. We were wearing t-shirts stating “Boston, WE STAND AS ONE”!.

The 2014 Boston Marathon will take place on Monday, April 21. It will be the 118th edition of the mass-participation marathon.

I am very proud to be part of a message of peace and solidarity by taking the start of the 2014 edition of Boston together with 36,000 runners. The number of registered participants is second only to the 1996 race in number of entries.

http://www.baa.org