Boston Marathon starts off for 2011 edition

Every year, since 1969, every third Monday of the month of April is celebrated as Patriot’s Day. The date has its name as an honor to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, which were the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Today, as a way to remember the date with even more enthusiasm, the Boston Marathon was established in 1897 in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Boston Marathon’s History

Even though each year it takes place on the same date of Patriot’s Day, the Boston Marathon is mostly known as the oldest annual marathon event of the whole world. In order to classify several marathons that take place, the World Marathon Majors was created to guarantee the championship of each marathon. There are only five marathons organized by the institution, and the Boston marathon is one of those.

At first, the Boston Marathon started off as a local event, with Boston citizens competing against each other. As the marathon managed to turn into a well known competition, runners from all around the world started to participate. Thanks to all popularity, the original prize (which was a wreath woven from olive branches) was substituted by cash prizes, as sponsors suddenly were interested in participating in the event.

The Marathon’s Popularity

As the championship grew, the marathon has now two different categories in which contestants can compete: Open Race or Wheelchair Race. Both categories divide men and women from each other, as a way of turning it into fair play. On the same day of the marathon, April 18, the awards ceremony and the post-race party will happen in the sequence of the race’s end.

In order to guarantee total security to the contestants of the marathon, the police department shut down the streets that are included on the race’s route, such as: Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline. The runners for the 2011 edition started to arrive at dawn on Monday, as the first set of athletes have their timetables scheduled to start the competition at 9am.