The 2014

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

took place in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, on Monday, April 21 (

Patriots' Day Patriots' Day (Patriot's Day in Maine) is an annual event, formalized as a legal holiday or a special observance day in six states, commemorating the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy, some of the first battles of the American Revo ...

). It was the 118th edition of the mass-participation

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. The race is organized by the

Boston Athletic Association The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) is a non-profit, running-focused, organized sports association for the Greater Boston area. The B.A.A. hosts such events as the Boston Marathon, the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K, the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the ...

. On account of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, extra security measures were implemented. The 2014 Marathon had about 36,000 registered participants, second only to the 1996 race in number of entries. The ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' reported that over a million people were expected to line the marathon route to watch the race, twice the number who attend during a typical year.

Meb Keflezighi Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; Ge'ez: መብራህቶም ክፍልእዝጊ, ''Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī''; born May 5, 1975) is a retired Eritrean-born American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and fin ...

won the men's race in 2:08:37 and became the first American male runner to win the Boston Marathon since 1983. Ethiopian runner

Bizunesh Deba Bizunesh Deba (born 8 September 1987), also known as ''Buzunesh Deba'', is a Bronx-based Ethiopian long-distance runner. Her personal best for the marathon is 2:19:59, set during the Boston Marathon in 2014. A prolific runner since 2009, she i ...

won the women's race in 2:19:59, and was awarded the title on October 26, 2016, after a review by the IAAF disqualified original winner

Rita Jeptoo Rita Jeptoo (born 15 February 1981) is a Kenyan marathon runner. Originally a winner of the Boston Marathon three times, including setting the then course record at 2:18:57 in 2014, she had also won marathons in Chicago, Stockholm, and Milan ...

Race description

The course runs through 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) of roads, mostly following Route 135, Route 16, Route 30, and city streets into the center of Boston, where the official finish line is located on

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...

alongside the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

. The race runs through Hopkinton, Ashland,

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...

Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

, Wellesley,

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

, and Boston. The marathon had about 36,000 entries. Increased participation after the 2013 marathon bombing required that an additional 9,000 participant spots be opened up, and the qualifying time lowered by 1 minute 38 seconds. The only Boston Marathon with more entries was the 1996 marathon, with 38,708 runners. The race was held on April 21, 2014. At the start, a moment of silence was held in memory of the 2013 bombings. The men and women's

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

group began their race at 8:50 am. The race started for the elite women at 9:32, while the elite men started half an hour later. Another moment of silence was announced (at least for television viewers) at 2:49 pm, in memory of the 2013 bombings, commemorating the exact minute when the 2013 bombings had occurred. Ethiopian

(26) of Ethiopia crossed the finish line in 2:19:59 to win the race, setting a new course record. The men's competition was won by

(38) of the United States with a time of 2:08:37, marking the first time the race had been won by an American male runner in over 30 years.

Security

After the

bombings A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

that took place during the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring over 260, police vowed to institute additional security measures—including bag checks and additional barriers—while maintaining a friendly, happy atmosphere. Police banned backpacks, strollers, suitcases, glass containers, some costumes and props, weight vests, and items larger than . More than 3,500 uniformed Boston Police officers were present for security.

Results

Results are from the

Wheelchair

References

External links

Official Website of the Boston Marathon
{{Boston Athletic Association Boston Marathon

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...