Planned since last October to be there, when Boston Billy reminded me of the shoes he was wearing in 1975. Always thought that was one of the seminal stories of the original running boom. His time that day, a half century ago, is still a full second faster than the current women’s marathon world record. I anticipated major hoopla.
The 129th BAA Marathon presented by Bank of America was THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY of Bill Rodgers winning the Boston Marathon in course record time. Despite having to stop – more than once – to tighten his Nike Boston ’73s, a slightly too big gift from Steve Prefontaine.
Pre. Perhaps you’ve heard him.
Some say, the Boston ’73 was the original super shoe. Anyway, I figured there would obviously be a GIGANTIC celebration of this MOMENTOUS event. Four legends – Pre Nike Boston Billy – in concert when nobody had money and good shoes were hard to find.
And I had to be there.
But I couldn’t get there. Figured if I took a train, I could walk around and with my beard, clothed like Steve Bannon, I could easily stowaway in a homeless shelter. Nearby hotels are seven hundred bucks nightly, if you can get in. I even asked a legendary champion if he could find me a room at the host hotel. “Nobody can find you a room at the Copley.” What about a capacious linen closet?
So, I bought a box of artisanal curated chocolate chip cookies which don’t begin to compare to those available in the BAA Marathon press room, where my credentials – and free jacket – may still await my arrival and settled down in my recliner. With my dog.
Admittedly, I am perturbed usually by the event coverage BEFORE the show starts. It is historical fact, we will cut away to a commercial – inevitably – whenever somethin’ you-don’t-want-to-miss happens.
“We could not ask for better weather, picture-perfect,” Hannah Storm opens the commentary on WCVB, and I never hear the actual conditions.
All four champions are back. WCVB’s Ed – didn’t catch his last name – says, “Sisal Lemma literally ran away with the race last year.” And so it begins.
And now – Matt James, you know him best for his roles on “Dancing With The Stars” and “The Bachelor.” Season 25. Matt, no neophyte to the distance, will be wearing camera sunglasses, so viewers can get a ‘in-the-race’ perspective.
My pre-race picks were Connor Mantz and Emma Bates. Both in great shape. A ‘homer’ by most accounts, I am thinking – on The Golden Anniversary of the Baptism of Boston Billy – why can’t one or two of these athletes take, oh, five minutes off their PRs? And would that be enough to win?
Nice piece on Bob Hall. He is overjoyed others are able to ‘follow in my footsteps, so to speak.” Bob and his fellow Grand Marshal finally brought me around on wheelchair racing. Only took a half century, but, as Bill says, ‘somebody has to be the Caboose.’
Twenty minutes in, Meb says “The weather’s perfect,” so now I am convinced. Continue to wonder about the temperature and humidity and wind direction.
Wheelchair racing needs its own pro league with weekly telecasts. Feel like Dick Cheney when he learned one of his daughters was a lesbian; how could I have been so wrong.
Mantz immediately takes the lead. Fifty-two years since I first ran down them, a few times after that, finally realize you should NOT hold back those first few downhill miles. As with love, holding back is what hurts.
John Anderson, professional track announcer, says the pro men racers are “jogging along at record pace.” Sounds strangely accurate.
Marcel Hug, “The Silver Bullet”, continues to amaze. Watching Hug’s victory, Anderson again – “Part of greatness is to make it look easy. Part of our job is to make it clear, it is not easy.”
Matt James’ perspective? Forgettable. Rod Dixon did a far better job with a far bigger camera in 1985 at the New York City Marathon. Mr. Dixon would also have done better, I am sure, on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” both.
The leading men jogged to halfway in 1:01:52. The women frontrunners 1:08:46.
John Korir posted a 4:24 twenty-second mile to break the race open.
“He wants to bring it home as soon as he can,” Meb assures us. I bet he does, but not as much as the two guys right behind him.
Emma finished in 2:25:10 and a 13th place finish. Not exactly what she was hoping for.
Connor finishes fourth. He needs to find some magic shoes.
Asked a few friends at the 129th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America about their experiences.
Bob Hall
Still waiting for a response from Bob, who, to my way of thinking, was perhaps the biggest pioneer of the weekend. “Still sleeping on a high. Will be able to articulate better tomorrow or even tonight.”
If you casually watched the television broadcast of the 129th BAA Marathon presented by Bank of America, you might think it was a wheelchair race with some runners allowed to participate. Credit Bob.
Hall is also the recipient of the 2025 Dick and Rick Hoyt Award, given annually to an individual or organization who epitomizes the courage and resilience of Dick and Rick Hoyt.
“At a moment when wheelchair athletes were often excluded from mainstream competitions, Hall’s relentless drive and his belief that racing belonged to everyone helped convince organizers to allow him to race,” wrote the BAA in the award announcement. “His 1975 finish in just under 3 hours wasn’t just a personal triumph, it was truly a turning point for the sport.”
Bill Rodgers
It was kind of a whirlwind compounded by the fact I was hit with the flu for about two weeks before the main activities at the Boston Marathon began. The precursor were interviews with local TV on several occasions at BAA headquarters. Also NPR and activities like that.
Bob [Hall] and I had to work together to ensure that he received the respect that I think he earned fifty years ago. Over the years there was one local who made things a real headache; we had to fight hard, so Bob’s point of view could be heard. It worked out in the end.
I went to the Boston Marathon Wreath Ceremony with Bob and also Marilyn Bevans, who won the Maryland marathon in 1976. I won the men’s in that race that year. Marilyn is the first African-American woman to run significant Marathon efforts. Very nice person. Bob Hodge came.
[Marilyn Bevans was feted as the first African-American woman marathoner to break the three-hour barrier. In 1975. Another Golden Anniversary not to be overlooked.]
Prior to that, we spent a couple of hours at Boston College where the Greater Boston Track Club had a salute to the team, now led by Tom Derderian. Thus, also saluting all the athletes over all the years. That was kind of cool.
My brother Charlie was at all of these events, so was Karen and my brother’s daughter Emily. This weekend I am at another important race, the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, which I have gone to off and on for 25 years. This year Meb, Joan Samuelson and Deena Kastor will be there, some of our country’s best ever, I think. I will be the Caboose on that train anyway.
Ron Wayne
There are a number of reasons why I enjoy Boston Marathon Weekend.
First, I was born in Boston, about a mile and a half from the marathon finish line, so it is always fun to spend time in my hometown.
Second, it is a yearly reunion of spending time with running comrades from the 1970’s, such as Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Jack Fultz, Dan and Patti Dillon, etc., as well as a number of Boston-area friends.
Third, I enjoy spending time with Joe LeMar (both graduated Brockton High School) who is the Boston Lead for Achilles International.
Fourth, I enjoy watching the BAA Miles, especially the high school division and younger.
Fifth, Brockton High hosts a “Ron Wayne Track Meet” and I get to speak to the girls and boys teams about the life benefits realized when participating in high school sports and, lastly, attending the BAA Finish Line Party to watch the race with my running friends.
Sara Mae Berman
I like to go to the Marathon festivities because they are reunions for me. I get to see marathon-connected people I’ve known for years.
I got to two of this year’s BAA festivities: Friday night at the Finish Line: Celebrating Champions, where all present were introduced (including me); Monday at the Finish Line to view the finish of all the various classes and the overall men’s and women’s winners, with Race Hospitality at the Library room adjacent to the Finish area for a buffet and more meet-and-greet.
Ellie Mendonça came with me this year, because she had business to do in the city and stayed over with us. (Ellie represented Brazil in the first Women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984, running 2:52.).
It was good to see Kathrine Switzer & husband Roger Robinson, former winners: Joan Benoit Samuelson, Geoff Smith, Bill Rodgers, Jacqueline Hansen, Amby Burfoot & his wife Christine……….
Also, I saw present and former BAA officials: president Jack Fleming, Tom Grilk, Guy Morse and his wife, Joann Flaminio and her husband; also Chris Lotsbom, Suzanne Walmsley, Steve Stover……
I also saw some of the men runners who Larry and I knew from years ago, when we were doing road races, really a reunion.
It was a fun time, and being a nice day, Ellie and I walked home (3 miles) to Cambridge in the early afternoon.
With Bill off to yet another love fest at The Oklahoma Memorial Marathon, I reached out to Nike for a report.
After all, it was their Golden Anniversary, too.
The ’Shake Out Run’ Community Event at Heartbreak Hill Running Company with Bill. The event was a big success with 400+ runners – no small feat when every Brand had activations throughout the weekend. Bill’s appearance was a special celebration of the 50th anniversary feat; some great artifacts from Nike DNA in the store and Bill helping to inspire Runners about to take on the marathon.
Originally, I had hoped for a national roots-oriented ad campaign with a special edition of Boston ’73s, commemorative t-shirts, perhaps a celebrity banquet with swag bags. The kind of swank affair Sara Mae Berman gets invited to. A Ken Burns documentary would not have been too much, far as I am concerned
Thinking it over, though, maybe low-key was really best. The way we used to do it. When none of us had much money but all of us had many dreams.
A half century ago. When running was young. Of course, back then, we were making history.
In 1975, we activated the brands. We sure did. Historic and golden, right? It was revolutionary.
Official Press Release [edited for brevity]
BOSTON (21-April) – A shattered course record, a monster move in the Newton Hills by a bib-less little brother and a sunrise surprise from a Boston legend: the 129th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America will go down as a day of speed, siblings and sentiment.
Speed: Sharon Lokedi of Kenya held off a late move by two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri to break the tape in 2:17:22, obliterating the course record of 2:19:59 set in 2014. Runner-up Obiri (2:17:41) and third-place finisher Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia (2:18:06) all finished under the old record.
Siblings: Kenya’s John Korir, whose brother Wesley won here in 2012, laid waste to a pack of six when he took off at 20 miles, winning in 2:04:45 – the second-fastest winning time in race history.
Sentiment: 2018 champion Des Linden, via Instagram and a full-page ad in the Boston Globe, announced on race morning that this would be her last professional marathon. The 41-year-old went on to finish in 2:26:19, her fastest time in eight years, to win the master’s division and finish 17th among all pro women.
The day began with a nod to the 250th anniversary of Patriots’ Day, as Paul Revere and the National Lancers proclaimed the runners were coming, making their way down course from Hopkinton. They were quickly followed by a legendary tandem serving as Grand Marshals, 1975 champions Bob Hall and Bill Rodgers.
Soon after, in the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug of Switzerland took an early lead over Daniel Romanchuk of the U.S., going on to cross the line in 1:21:34 for his eighth win here. Romanchuk, a two-time Boston champion, would finish second in 1:25:58, with Jetze Plat of the Netherlands third in 1:30:16.
Hug was pleased that his victory came on the 50th anniversary of Bob Hall becoming the race’s first official wheelchair finisher,
“One of my first racing chairs was a Hall chair,” said Hug, who over the weekend got to meet the pioneer who went on to design them.
For the women, American Susannah Scaroni fell behind Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain and Manuela Schär and Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland early, playing catch-up until Mile 5. The quartet worked together for about 10 miles until Scaroni – a strong climber – surged just before the Newton Hills to her second Boston victory, in 1:35:20. In her debut here, 2024 Paralympic gold medalist Debrunner was second, in 1:37:26, with four-time Boston champion Schär third in 1:39:18.
“There was that tiny bit of worry,” said Scaroni, about making up that early deficit. “I had to tell myself, ‘I can do this, I can do this.’”
Korir’s day almost ended in the early meters of the race, when he fell after being clipped from behind.
“What came to my mind was, should I stay down, or should I wake up and go? Something told me to wake up and go, and that everything would be OK,” he said.
After tucking his detached race bib – which included his precious timing chip – into his shorts, Korir stuck with the lead pack until turning on the turbos near the top of Heartbreak Hill to leave everyone trying to close the sudden gap behind.
“We planned that, with my coach and my brother and everyone in my crew,” said the 29-year-old, who last fall won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon but finished fourth and ninth here in his previous two attempts. “We said that at 20 miles I will try and make the move. And I tried, and it worked well.”
In that lead pack all the way was Conner Mantz, who helped blast the pack to a 4:32 first mile, setting the stage for a fast race. For his efforts, the man who broke the American record in the half marathon a few months ago came within one spot of the podium after a three-way sprint down Boylston against runner-up Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania (2:05:04), third place CyBrian Kotut of Kenya (2:05:04).
Mantz’s time of 2:05:08 was the second-fastest time by an American in race history.
“Getting outkicked for the last 300 meters is a little bitter, but it was still probably my best race I’ve had. And so I was very happy about that.”
For Lokedi, it was a role reversal from last year, when Obiri went on to victory after making a decisive move with one mile to go. Obiri tried exactly the same thing this year, but Lokedi was ready, willing and able to fend her off.
“I was like, ‘I’m not going to let her take it today from me, so I just wanted to fight as hard as I could,” said the 31-year-old Kenyan, who won the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon in her debut at the distance. “I’m glad that we had to tough it out together.”
Finishing seventh as top American in 2:22:43 was Jess McClain, who just missed making Team USA for Paris when she ended up fourth at the Olympic Marathon Trials.
“Today, it felt like a win to me,” she said.
For Linden, competing for the 12th time here, “the crowd was behind me and it really felt incredible. I’ll probably be a mess of tears the rest of the day. But that run was everything. Thank you.”
The top non-binary finisher was Whit Blair, finishing in 2:22:47.
A total of 28,928 athletes started the race.
Results search, athlete tracking and leaderboards are available here.
