BOSTON MARATHON A NEW FALL ATTRACTION
BOSTON HERALD
The 125th running of the BAA Marathon features a remarkably strong field despite the unusual circumstance of running a springtime race in October.
Boston has enjoyed a virtual monopoly in terms of attracting the world’s elite runners by staging the event annually on the third Monday in April. The last two Boston Marathons scheduled for April were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The talent distribution this fall was exacerbated because the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were also postponed due to the pandemic. The games went forward this summer with the women’s and men’s Olympic marathons run on Aug. 6-7. That created a timeline glitch that would take many of its participants out of the fall marathon picture.
“What happens with Olympians that if they do go into a race like this and if they’re having a bad day, they will just bail and save it for the next one down the road,” said BAA race director Dave McGillivray. “I don’t know if we have any Olympians but if we do it is a very small number.
“But we’ve got a great field and you’ve got to remember that every top athlete in the world other than maybe those that ran the Olympics are hungry to run a marathon. They haven’t run one in two years and they are all coming out of the woodwork to run a marathon. They just have to decide which one.”
Autumn is the busy marathon season under normal circumstances. With spring races like Boston and London rescheduled for the fall, it created a smorgasbord of marquee events for runners. Boston found itself in competition against both the regularly scheduled Abbott Marathon Majors along with other popular destinations.
Berlin was run on Sept. 26, London went off on Oct. 3 while Chicago was contested Oct. 10. The New York Marathon, the biggest race on the fall schedule, will be run on Nov. 7. Although they are not major marathons, Lisbon and Amsterdam are popular destinations slated for Oct. 17.
“The fall is marathon season, not the spring, even though London and Boston are in the spring,” said McGillivray. “People prefer to train through the summer and run in the fall marathon of their choosing as opposed to training in the winter for a spring marathon.
“Add to that, everything that was in the spring was postponed to the fall so now it is a double-whammy. Now the marathons are back-to-back-to-back and this is the only time this is likely to ever happen.”
Boston has attracted 18,252 contestants from all 50 states and 104 countries. The field includes 13 former champions in the men’s and women’s open and wheelchair divisions with $876,500 in prize money on the line.
“Boston is a world-class organization and it is an incredible race,” said American hopeful Scott Fauble of Flagstaff, Ariz., who finished seventh in 2019 with a personal best time of 2:09:09.
“This organization brings people here and the race brings a lot of people here. It has a lot of history and I don’t think there will ever be a year where people don’t want to come to Boston.”
The favorites in the men’s and women’s races were the runners-up in 2019. Lelisa Desisa will look to become the first Ethiopian runner to win the men’s race three times. Desisa won the race in 2013 and 2015 and was second twice with a personal best of 2:09:17.
On the women’s side, Edna Kiplagat won in 2017 (2:21:52) and finished second behind Worknesh Degefa in 2019. American Desiree Linden, the 2018 winner, will make her eighth appearance. Jordan Hasay, who placed third in 2017 and 2019, leads the new generation of American women.
“Boston is so historic that everyone wants the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon,” said Hasay. “For me it doesn’t matter when you have it, this is the marathon I want to sign up for.”