In 1924, the Boston Marathon officers moved the beginning line of the race from Ashland to Hopkinton. This yr’s race marks 100 years because the marathon was pushed again and lengthened to its full 26.2-mile distance. Right here’s a take a look at what brought on the change and what the race was like a century in the past.
Why the change
When the Boston Marathon began in 1897, customary marathon size was 24.8 miles. The space was primarily based on a legend the place Greek foot-soldier Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens to announce a victory over the Persian military, in accordance with the Boston Athletic Affiliation website. The 24.8 miles put the beginning line in Ashland for the primary 27 years of the Boston Marathon.
Forward of the change, Boston Herald reporter Tom McCabe wrote, “One can in truth say the roads from Ashland to Boston don’t have any rival. The Newton and Wellesley Hills resemble the street Pheidippides traveled.”
However on the 1908 Olympic video games in London, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria wanted the marathon to begin at Windsor Fortress. The space from the fort to the Olympic stadium was 26 miles, and an additional 385 yards was tacked on in order that runners may wrap up with a lap round a observe and finish in entrance of the world’s royal viewing field.
Due to that royal request, Olympic marathon requirements elevated to 26.2 miles. The B.A.A hadn’t made the change after the 1908 video games, however the 1924 race was the final take a look at for hopefuls making an attempt to make the American marathon workforce for the Olympics in Paris that yr, in accordance with an article in the Boston Herald. Consequently, the B.A.A pushed the route again into Hopkinton to match the Olympic route.
As for a way runners have been in a position to meet the brand new lengthened course, Boston Herald reporter McCabe wrote, “the 9 minutes they used up masking the additional distance of just about two miles from the brand new begin to the previous level in Ashland is proof that they knew their enterprise.”
The 1924 winner
The Boston Marathon, then generally known as the American Marathon, had 111 racers in 1924. Out of all of the runners who tried the brand new, longer race, Clarence DeMar got here out on prime. DeMar (whose title can also be spelled ‘De Mar’ in some archival articles) lived in Melrose and was typesetter by commerce.
To gas up forward of race day in 1924, DeMar ate six eggs he collected from his pet hens, in accordance with Related Press protection of his win published in the New York Times. He reportedly ate three eggs earlier than the race, and “The opposite three he took with him to Hopkinton and ate them after the beginning of the race. That was his solely nourishment for the lengthy grind.”
Apart from “just a few blisters on his toes,” DeMar felt sturdy, ending the race 5 minutes earlier than his closest competitor.
Melrose, DeMar’s hometown, was thrilled by his win. When phrase of DeMar’s victory came to visit the radio, Mayor Paul H. Provandie ordered a fireplace alarm to ring throughout the town to alert residents of the win, in accordance with New York Occasions archives. When DeMar acquired to Melrose Metropolis Corridor later that day, greater than 2,000 folks lined as much as shake his hand. DeMar stated the hand-shaking “took simply as a lot power as profitable the afternoon race,” in accordance with Boston Herald archives from the Boston Public Library.
The win was DeMar’s fourth within the Boston Marathon, and he went on to win seven in all. DeMar is the winningest Males’s Open Division runner of all time. He additionally competed within the 1924 Paris Olympics primarily based on his efficiency in Boston and ended up taking house the bronze medal.
Even by his fourth win in Boston, reporters felt DeMar, who they generally referred to as “Mr. DeMarathon,” was destined for the historical past books.
“When the historical past of the Marathon working is written for the long run generations, the title of Clarence H. DeMar … will probably be emblazoned on its pages as the best of all males who’ve sought honors as a long-distance plodder,” wrote John J. Hallahan within the Boston Globe April 20, 1924.
