Why Boston Marathon is held on Mondays
The event did not officially allow women to compete until 1972, though female runners had unofficially participated beginning in 1966 despite breaching the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union.
The 129th edition of the Boston Marathon is scheduled to take place on Monday, hence ensuring the event continues to maintain its record as the world's oldest annual marathon.
The race was first held in 1897 after being inspired by the success of the first edition of the Olympic Games that took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece. However, the event did not officially allow women to compete until 1972, though female runners had unofficially participated beginning in 1966 despite breaching the rules of the Amateur Athletic Union.
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Since then, the event has been held every year, with the exception of 2020, when the organisers cancelled that year's race and replaced it with a virtual one due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Boston Marathon not only continues the legacy of the marathon from the first Olympic Games but also has connections to the American struggle for independence.
The Boston Marathon is held on a Monday because it takes place on Patriots’ Day, a public holiday observed in Massachusetts and Maine on the third Monday of April each year.
Before that, Patriot's Day was celebrated on April 19 in honour of the day in 1775 when the first major military campaign of the American Revolutionary War was launched by Americans against the British.
The American Revolution War lasted until September 3, 1783, when Great Britain finally acknowledged the sovereignty and independence of the United States.
However, Patriot's Day was not observed until 1894, when it replaced Fast Day as a holiday following a proclamation by the the Governor of Massachusetts, Frederic Greenhalge.
In 1897, ten years after the formation of the Boston Athletics Association (BAA), the BAA held the event to conclude that year's edition of the BAA Games, and it opted to host the marathon on April 19 so as to link to the American struggle for independence while also honouring its appearance at the 1896 Olympic Games.
The BAA maintained that date for the event, only changing it to April 20 on the occasions that April 19 fell on a Sunday.
However, the implementation of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971 saw the event assuming its now traditional date of the third Monday of April, the date on which America now commemorates Patriot's Day.
At this year's edition, Kenyan Hellen Obiri will be aiming to become the fifth woman to win the event in three consecutive years.
Victory on Monday will see her emulating Americans Bobbi Gibb (1966-1968) and Sara Mae Berman (1969-1971), the German Uta Pippig (1994-1996), and Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba (1997-1999).
Obiri will, however, face stiff competition from compatriots Sharon Lokedi, the evergreen Edna Kiplagat, and Mary Ngugi, who finished 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, respectively in last year's race.
The Ethiopian trio of current world champion Amane Beriso, 2022 London Marathon winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw, and Buze Diriba, who finished fourth in the 2024 Boston Marathon, will also pose a threat to Obiri's ambitions.
In the men's race, two-time winner Evans Chebet will be seeking to reclaim his title after finishing third in last year's race, which was won by the Ethiopian Sisay Lemma. Chebet had won the event in 2022 and 2023.
Lemma has returned to this year's event to defend his crown. He will be aiming to become the first Ethiopian athlete to win the event in two consecutive years.
Overall, Kenya is the second most successful nation in the Boston Marathon, with 39 wins in the men's (25) and women's (14) races. America leads with 59 victories, 43 for men and 16 for women.
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