In Honor of Patriot's day April 18, 2016

MONDAY APRIL 18, THE BOSTON MARATHON WILL BE RUN
This race was the first marathon held in the US, and it commemorates a holiday that all Americans can celebrate. So this week EarnedRuns will feature items that relate to this historical, unofficial start to the running, specifically marathon, "season".

The official Boston Athletic Association (B.A. A.) website provides a history of the Boston Marathon, which it has sponsored since it’s very first running. The page explains that “after experiencing the spirit and majesty “ of the marathon run at the modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, “B.A.A. member and inaugural US Olympic Team Manager John Graham was inspired to organize and conduct a marathon in the Boston area. “ According to a Wikipedia entry, the “Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, inspired by the success of the 1896 Olympic marathon and held every year since 1897 to celebrate Patriots Day, a holiday marking the beginning of the American Revolution, thereby purposely linking Athenian and American struggle for democracy”

 “Patriot's Day (or Patriots' Day) commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord, which were fought near Boston in 1775. Patriot's Day is annually held on the third Monday of April. It should not be confused with Patriot Day, held on September 11 to mark the anniversary of terrorist attacks in the USA in 2001.” It’s an official state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine.
(FROM: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day)
 
Boston Marathon History that you may not know:
- The race’s distance was not always 26 miles 385 feet! The first modern Olympic marathon course covered 24 .5 miles and the Boston Marathon covered 24.8 miles. The official marathon distance was standardized by 1924.
- The first year in which women were officially allowed to run was 1972. However, one ran and finished the full race without a bib number for 3 years, 1966-68, and one ran and finished  but did not identify herself as a female in 1967. Read the page to learn their names and more about women in this race.
- This was the first marathon to include a wheelchair division, in 1975.
 
RUN HAPPY!

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/patriots-day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon
http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history.aspx

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