Nov 11, 2008 8:47 pm US/Eastern
Boston Marathon Trivia
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The Finish Line at the 2006 Boston Marathon
CBS
- The Boston Marathon course is 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 kilometers)
- About 25,000 runners compete in the Boston Marathon
- Runners begin the Boston Marathon in two waves of approximately 10,000 runners each
- The total prize money package for the Boston Marathon is $806,000
- The winners of the Men and Women Open Division Winners each receive $150,000
- Prize money was first awarded at the Boston Marathon in 1986
- Since 1969 the Boston Marathon has always been run on Patriots' Day, the third Monday in April
- About 500,000 spectators line the marathon route each year
- Wheelchair athlete Jean Driscoll holds the most Boston Marathon victories (8)
- Johnny Kelley started a record 61 Boston Marathons, won twice and finished the race 58 times
- There were only 15 runners to start the first Boston Marathon in 1897
- John J. McDermott won the first Boston Marathon in 1897 in a time of 2:55:10
- Greg Meyer was the last American Man to win the Boston Marathon (1983)
- Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach was the last American woman to win the Boston Marathon (1985)
- 1966: Roberta Gibb became first woman to unofficially run the Boston Marathon
- 1967: Katherine Switzer became first woman to receive official number, by using her initials to register
- 1972: Women were first allowed to officially enter the Boston Marathon
- In 2004 the Elite Women runners were given a separate, earlier start time from the main field
- The largest field of runners was for the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996, when 36,748 runners started the marathon
- Clarence DeMar was the oldest winner of the Boston Marathon at age 41 (1930)
- 18 year-old Tim Ford was the youngest winner in Boston Marathon history (1906)
- 173-pound Lawrence Brignolia is the heaviest runner ever to win the Boston Marathon
- 1975: Boston became the first marathon to include a wheelchair division
- 1936: Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason nicknamed "Heartbreak Hill" in Newton
- In 1988 Ibrahim Hussein finished 1 second ahead of Juma Ikangaa in the closest finish in Boston Marathon history
- Robert Cheruyiot, Clarence DeMar, Bill Rodgers & Cosmos Ndeti are the only champions to win the open division three consecutive years
- In 1961 the racers faced 38-degree temperatures and snow squalls along the course
- Water and Gatorade are provided every mile of the course; PowerGel is provided at mile 17
- 4 tons of pasta and 500 gallons of tomato sauce are cooked for the pre-race meal
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