For Boston Marathon's last 100 years, it all starts in Hopkinton

HOPKINTON, Mass. — Workers zip in and out of the tents that dot the Hopkinton Town Common, flags flutter from the gazebo, and crews assemble the platform where the starter will fire the gun to send the Boston Marathon field on its way. On race day, this otherwise sleepy New England town serendipitously located 26.2 miles from Boston will swell to three times its size.

Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon.

“It wouldn’t be the Boston Marathon without Hopkinton," said Meb Keflezighi, who was conferred with honorary town citizenship after winning the race in 2014, the year after the finish line bombing. "As the sign says, ‘It all starts here.’"

Although the Boston Marathon was born next door in Ashland, where 15 men toed a line near Metcalf's Mill in 1897, the start was moved to Hopkinton in 1924 to conform with a new international distance standard. With a field for the 100th anniversary that will top 30,000 runners, the town strains to absorb the crowds and yet still maintains its small-town hospitality year-round.

“The regulars invite people into their home — ‘Hey, use our bathroom. Have some snacks," 2018 winner Des Linden said. “It has a family feel when it comes to the race.”

MARATHON HISTORY

The idea of a marathon race was born from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger who ran to Athens to deliver news of the victory over the invading Persians in the Battle of Marathon.

“Rejoice, we conquer,” he is said to have announced.

And then he dropped dead.

The Greeks recreated his journey in a race that proved to be the signature event of the inaugural modern Olympics when it was held in Athens in 1896. A traveling party from the Boston Athletic Association was so taken with the spectacle that they created a copycat race back home the following year.

IT ALL STARTED HERE

A small park in Ashland marks the spot between Pleasant Street and the Sudbury River where 15 men lined up in 1897 for the first Boston race, then known as the American Marathon. John J. McDermott was the first to cross the finish line at the Irvington Oval near Copley Square, 24.5 miles away.

At the time, there was no standard marathon distance. That changed after the 1908 London Games, when the start was moved to Windsor Castle, 26 miles away from the Olympic stadium, reportedly at the request of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria. Organizers added 385 yards to the end, so the runners could do a lap on the track and finish in front of the royal box.

Informational plaques in Ashland's Marathon Park tell the story of the race's first 27 years. A granite boulder marks the original starting line.

THE MOVE TO HOPKINTON

Although there were six different marathon distances in the first seven Olympics, for the 1924 Games in Paris, the course was set at the 26 mile, 385 yard distance (42.195 km). To accommodate the new standard, the BAA moved its start to Hopkinton, one town west.

Although the start and finish lines have moved around a few blocks since then, the sign welcoming visitors to Hopkinton remains true: “It all starts here.”

Starting the race in a small town of about 17,000 has posed challenges for race organizers, especially as the field ballooned from 147 in 1924 to more than 30,000 in recent years. To fit everyone on streets originally laid in 18th Century colonial New England, organizers cut the field into waves and send them off one at a time.

Linden said she went out to Hopkinton for a training run on a non-race day and wondered if she’d gotten lost.

“It’s a totally different scene,” she said. “It looks insanely different.”