I STARTED running in the mid- 1970s when the fitness craze was just beginning to take off.
Until then, few people believed that part- timers could jog more than a few kilometres, let alone in a marathon. At first, I took up running to strengthen my ligaments after breaking both legs — on different occasions — playing soccer. B ut the stronger and fitter I became, the more I enjoyed it. He certainly popularis ed the sport of running. And, after reading a chapter of his book, Boston and/or Bust, which documented each stride of the 42km route, completing the Boston Marathon became every runner’s ultimate destiny.
Inspired by the inaugural Olympic Marathon in 1896, the Boston Athletic Association decided to organis e a standard marathon in the Boston area. It was first run on April 19 1897 . The marathon has been run every year since, on the third Monday in April — Patriots’ Day — a holiday in Massachusetts and Maine that commemorates the start of the revolutionary war against the British.