Rolling start, masks, leaf observation – Action News Jax

BOSTON – (AP) – It all starts here.

No, not at Hopkinton, where the Boston Marathon Ground crosses the painted start line on Main Street, toward Back Bay. But 26.2 miles away, a short walk from the finish of Copley Square, where runners will need to clear coronavirus protocols before their journey can begin.

In the same medical tent where athletes seek refuge after running for pulled muscles, dehydration and more, they will have to prove they are vaccinated or pass a COVID-19 test. This is how they get the bracelet they need to collect their bib number which will take them to a bus that will take them to the start at Hopkinton.

“This year, with a pandemic, everything is different,” Boston Athletic Association president Tom Grilk said at a press conference ahead of the delayed, canceled and delayed 125th edition of the most long-term race. long in the world. “It’s Boston Marathon weekend again. It’s been a long time. “

Thirty months later Lawrence Cherono and Worknesh Degefa broke the tape to be won in 2019, the Boston Marathon returns Monday for the first time since the coronavirus epidemic. Last year’s race was postponed to September then canceled for the first time in its history; This year’s one was moved from Patriots’ Day in hopes the pandemic abates – leading to Boston’s first fall marathon.

“You have beautiful fall foliage here,” said 2018 winner Des Linden. “Who knew?”

It is one of the many changes to come for Linden and his running mates.

In addition to checking vaccines, they will have to wear masks inside Boston and on buses until Hopkinton leaves. When they get there, there won’t be a crowded athlete village where they can grab a granola bar and stretch while waiting to start; they were ordered to get off the bus and leave, with microchips recording their departure time.

Another social-distancing accommodation: the pitch will be about a third smaller, around 18,000 runners instead of over 30,000. It’s also more American, with many coming from countries with strict quarantine rules unable to. ‘attend. (Namely: there are four Australian residents running, up from 276 in 2019.)

Another 29,000 of those ousted by the height limit will virtually participate in the race, an option that never existed before the pandemic canceled the 2020 edition. (There are 222 Australians and 1,639 Hong Kong signed up for this.)

Crowds in the eight towns and villages along the route are also expected to be smaller as fans try to distance themselves socially as well. And the students at Wellesley College were asked to skip the traditional good luck kisses for the runners as they pass school near the halfway point.

On the other hand, some changes may be welcome.

The quick rework at the start will save riders the long wait – often hours spent standing – before they are herded into corrals for their starting wave to be called. The rolling start will distribute things evenly on the course, giving them more room to run.

The finishers’ medals are larger – and gold – to commemorate the 125th edition of the race. There will also be different colors in the trees: instead of the spring daffodils planted along the course since the 2013 bombing, runners will see the reds, oranges and yellows of the changing foliage.

And the Red Sox, who traditionally play a morning marathon at Fenway Park, just off the “1 Mile To Go” marker in Kenmore Square, obliged by reaching the baseball playoffs. Luckily for the schedule, they’ll be at home against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in Game 4 of the AL Division Series (albeit at night).

“I know it’s different, but things happen for a reason, don’t they? Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “If it’s special at the start of the year, I think Monday – with us playing in a playoff game and obviously what’s going on during the day – I can’t even imagine the feelings of the people here.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash, who played for the Red Sox for three seasons, also noticed the buzz when he arrived in Boston this weekend. “The city certainly has a lot of life right now,” he said.

So, was Grilk asked, any luck the BAA decides he prefers the fall and goes for a permanent change?

“No,” he said.

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