History
John Graham was manager of the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) team that won six gold medals for the United States at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Even though a BAA runner, Arthur Blake, was forced to drop out of the marathon after running only 14 1/2 miles, Graham was intrigued by the new long-distance race.
He returned to Boston determined to establish a marathon there. With help from businessman Herbert H. Holton and other BAA members, Graham succeeded in a surprisingly short time.
The first Boston Marathon was run on Patriot's Day, April 19, 1897, a little more than a year after that first Olympic marathon in Athens. The course, from Metcalfe's Mill in Asthland, Massachusetts, to the Irvington Street Oval in Boston, measured 24.5 miles, slightly shorter than the Athens course.
There were 15 runners. John McDermott of New York won the race in 2 hours, 55 minutes, and 10 seconds, despite the fact that he had to stop and wait several minutes for a funeral procession.
When the International Olympic Committee in 1924 adopted 26 miles, 385 yards as the official Olympic marathon distance, the Boston course was changed to conform to the new standard. However, when the course was routinely re-measured in 1927, it was found to be 176 yards short, and was re-adjusted.
Road construction during the early 1950s forced another re-adjustment in 1957, when it was discovered that the course had been shortened by 1,183 yards.
The course has been changed twice since then to accommodate sponsors. The traditional finish was at Exeter Street in Copley Square, where the BAA originally had its clubhouse (long since replaced by the Boston Public Library).
In 1965, the Prudential Insurance Company become the race's chief sponsor and the finish line was moved to the Prudential Building, which required moving the finish line back about a quarter of mile.
Prudential was replaced as sponsor by John Hancock Insurance Company in 1986. Since then, the marathon has finished near John Hancock Tower in Copley Square, just a short distance from the original Exeter Street finish.
The race begins in Hopkinton, west of Boston. It is run annually on Patriot's Day, a Massachusetts holiday celebrating the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The holiday is now celebrated on the third Monday in April.