Boston Marathon

25,000 To Run Boston Marathon

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Some 25,000 runners are getting ready to make the annual 26.2 mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston.

Unlike the wet and windy conditions of a year ago, the weather for today's 112th running of the Boston Marathon should be just fine for athletes and spectators alike, with partly sunny skies expected and a high temperature near 60.

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya and Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia are back to try to defend their titles from a year ago.

There is even more at stake for Cheruiyot, who is seeking his fourth Boston victory. Such an accomplishment would put him in a league with only two other men: Four-time winner Bill Rodgers and seven-time winner Clarence DeMar.

The oldest registered runner is 81-year-old Safder Kartoglu of Turkey. The youngest runners are 18 - there are 48 of them registered.

Some of the faces you may recognize along the route: Lance Armstrong, Shonda Schilling, Mike Timlin's wife Dawn, and Jacoby Ellsbury's girlfriend Kelsey Hawkins.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee dropped out of the marathon Friday.

The field is the second largest in Boston Marathon history - only behind the 1996 field, which was the 100th anniversary of the race.

The elite men will step off from Hopkinton at 10 a.m., about 20 minutes after the race begins for the elite women runners. The marathon will weave its way through the Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and finally into Boston, passing Kenmore Square and ending in Copley Square.

A number of roads along the route will be closed to vehicle traffic during the race.  For more information, click here.

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