The Boston Marathon is an annual sporting event that spans several cities in Massachusetts. It is always held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday in April. The first race took place in 1897. He was inspired by the success of the first marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the oldest annual race and is also considered one of the most famous in the world.
The marathon draws an estimated 500,000 spectators, making it the most popular sporting event in New England. Although only 18 athletes participated in this race in 1897, it currently averages about 30,000 registered participants. The 1996 Anniversary Boston Marathon set the record for the most entrants, with 38,708 registered to join the race, 36,748 starting and 35,868 finishing.
History
The first Boston Marathon was organized in April 1897, inspired by the revival of the running at the Summer Olympics1896 in Athens. It is the oldest continuously operating and the second longest in North America.
The event is timed to coincide with the celebration of Patriots' Day and symbolizes the connection between the Athenian and American freedom fighters. The first winner was John McDermott, who ran the 24.5 miles in 2:55:10. The race that became known as the Boston Marathon has been held every year since then. In 1924, the start was moved to Hopkinton and the route was extended to 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km). This is done to meet the standards set at the 1908 Olympics and codified by the IAAF in 1921.
The Boston Marathon was originally a local event, but due to its fame and prestige, it has begun to attract runners from all over the world. For most of its history, this event was completely non-profit, and the only prize for winning was a wreath woven from olive tree branches. Sponsored cash prizes only began to be awarded in the 1980s, after professional athletes began withdrawing from races without significant rewards. The first cash prize for winning a marathon was received in 1986.
Struggle for women's right to run the marathon
Women weren't allowed to officially run the Boston Marathon until 1972. Roberta Gibb, according to the organizers of the competition, is the first woman to completely run the entire marathon distance (in 1966). In 1967 KatherineSwitzer, registered as "K. W. Switzer", became the first woman to run to the very end with an official race number. She managed to make it to the finish line despite a well-publicized incident in which marathon official Jock Semple tried to rip her number off and prevent her from running. In 1996, the women who unofficially competed in the marathon from 1966 to 1971 and were the first to cross the finish line were retroactively officially recognized as champions. In 2015, about 46% of participants were female.
Rosie Ruiz scandal
The scandal occurred at the Boston Marathon in 1980 when amateur runner Rosie Ruiz appeared out of nowhere and won the women's race. Marathon officials became suspicious when they discovered that Ruiz was not visible on the videos of the race until almost the very end. Subsequent investigation showed that Ruiz missed most of the competition, and then, about a mile (1.6 km) before the finish line, she blended into the crowd and easily overtook her rivals. The judges officially disqualified Rosie. The 1980 Boston Marathon was thus won by Canadian athlete Jacqueline Garo.
Accidents
In 1905, James Edward Brooks of North Adams, Massachusetts died of pneumonia shortly after running a marathon, never returning home. In 1996, a 62-year-old Swedish man died of a heart attack. Cynthia Lucero, 28, died of hyponatremia in 2002.
2013 Boston Marathon
During the 2013 marathon, on April 15 at 2:49 pm local time, more than two hours after the winners crossed the finish line, two explosions occurred on Boylston Street, about 200 meters from the finish line, the distance between which was 180 meters.
The explosions killed three people and injured at least 144 people, of whom 17 were seriously injured. Among those killed was an eight-year-old boy. No terrorist group claimed responsibility for these explosions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over the case and photographs of the two suspects were soon obtained.
On the night of April 18, a policeman was killed in a shootout in Cambridge, not far from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after which an operation began to capture two suspects, the brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The eldest of them, Tamerlan, died in the hospital in the early morning of April 19. Residents of nearby areas have been advised to stay inside their homes with their doors locked. Public transportation in Boston has been shut down, including routes from the state's largest Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Amtrak railroad; schools and universities were closed, as were many businesses. State police-led human rights authorities raided the city of Watertown and arrested Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at 8:45 am on April 19.
The 2013 Boston Marathon where an explosion killed an 8-year-old boy and a 29-year-old woman (bothresidents of the suburbs of Boston), as well as a 23-year-old student from China, is a huge tragedy for all civilized mankind. Among the seriously injured were the mother and sister of the dead boy.
Marathon attack
Explosions of two bombs with an interval of 15 seconds sounded near Copley Square in Boston. As a result of the terrorist attack, three people were killed and more than a hundred were injured of varying severity. The winners crossed the finish line about two hours before the explosions, but there were still many runners who had yet to finish the Boston Marathon.
The attack came as a surprise to everyone: before the attack, there were no threats from terrorist organizations.
The explosive devices were of a type that could easily be made by taking instructions from the Internet or any other source. The explosives were inside six-liter pressure cookers that were hidden in nylon sports backpacks.
Shootouts, chases and arrests
Shortly after the photos were released, a shootout took place in the vicinity of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not far from Building 32 (Stata Center). This happened on April 18 at 22:48 local time (02:48 UTC). Several shots were fired. The bullets hit a police officer who was sitting in a patrol car. He was taken to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and, after some time, the doctorsdeath. The cop's name was Sean Collier, aged 26, originally from Somerville, Massachusetts, and worked for the MIT Police Department.
The Tsarnaev brothers seized a silver Mercedes SUV in Cambridge and forced the owner to withdraw $800 from an ATM. Taking the money, they released the owner of the car. The suspects informed him that they were held responsible for the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Police tracked the vehicle to Watertown, Massachusetts. Watertown law enforcement officials reported several clashes and shootouts, during which explosions were also heard. That same evening, The Boston Globe reported that the shootout involved people who were wanted for a terrorist attack during a marathon race. The shootout with the police and the explosion of a bomb thrown by the criminals were observed by the residents of Watertown. One of the brothers was caught, but the other managed to escape in a stolen SUV. A 33-year-old Massachusetts Bay Transportation Police officer named Richard H. Donahue, Jr. was critically wounded in the shootout. Fortunately, the wound was not fatal.
On the morning of April 19, after a car chase and shootout with police, one of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was taken to the Beth Israel Medical Center, where he died from several gunshot wounds and injuries sustained during the explosion. The FBI released photos of two suspects in the Watertown events. The second of the brothers, Dzhokhar, who is sometimes referred to as "the suspect in the white cap", was still on the premises, according to police.freedom. Authorities say the brothers threw homemade bombs from their car at police officers who chased them from Cambridge to Watertown.
In 2015, one of the perpetrators of the bombing, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was found guilty on 30 counts and sentenced to death.
Memorial ceremony
April 18, an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the attack was held at Boston's Holy Cross Catholic Cathedral. It was attended by US President Barack Obama and some veterans of the Boston Marathon.
2014 marathon doping scandal
In this year's marathon race, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptu finished first among women. However, she was disqualified after representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency said that her test for banned substances showed a positive result. This case was heard in January 2015.
2016 Boston Marathon
In 2016, American Jami Marcele became the first woman to finish the Boston Marathon with both legs amputated. The host of the event was Bobbie Gibb, the same one who ran the marathon exactly 50 years ago, in 1966. The 2016 women's winner, Ethiopian Atzede Baysa, gave her prize to Bobbi Gibb. She agreed to accept it on the condition that in a year she would come to Ethiopia and return the cup to its rightful owner.
