13 Boston Marathon champs to race this fall
B.A.A. offers pay equity in open, wheelchair divisions
Thirteen Boston Marathon champions with a combined 30 first-place Boston finishes will race this fall’s historic marathon, the Boston Athletic Association announced on Wednesday.
The B.A.A. also said it will be the first Abbott World Marathon Major event to offer equal $50,000 course record bonuses across open and wheelchair divisions — and the first event to provide a designated prize purse for athletes with upper limb, lower limb and visual impairments.
“We are delighted to welcome so many champions from such a diverse range of competition back to Boston for the 125th running of the Boston Marathon,” Tom Grilk, B.A.A. president and CEO, said in a statement. “While October’s race marks a long-awaited return to racing, it will also recognize and celebrate the many world-class athletes competing for an historic prize purse across multiple divisions.”
The in-person race was postponed from the traditional April date on Patriot’s Day to this October because of the coronavirus pandemic. The fall race will feature a field size of 20,000 participants — smaller than the usual 30,000 field — as well as a rolling start for the first time.
The in-person race will be complemented by a virtual race, which will be held from Oct. 8 through 10. Last year’s in-person race was canceled, and the B.A.A. organized a virtual run all around the world.
Joining a competitive field at the Hopkinton starting line will be four of the last five women’s open champions, including American Desiree Linden who won the rainy and windy 2018 race.
“I can’t wait to line up in this year’s historic fall edition of the Boston Marathon,” Linden said in a statement. “Experience goes a long way in Boston and lining up with so many great champions, who have proven they know how to win on this course, will be an extra challenge on race day. I’m training hard and more motivated than ever to be ready to put together a memorable performance this October.”
Among the wheelchair contenders on the men’s side is defending champion Daniel Romanchuk.
“As a young wheelchair racer, if someone said ‘marathon,’ I thought ‘Boston,’ ” Romanchuk said in a statement. “It has always been on the leading edge of inclusion as the first major marathon to have a wheelchair division, and it’s so incredible to see it setting the example again as the first major marathon to have pay equity between the runners and wheelchair division for the course record.”