Welcome to a very different Marathon Monday

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It’s been over a year and a half since the thrill-seeking crowd got off the buses at Hopkinton and walked back to Boston. But this year’s Marathon Monday, typically the region’s barometer for spring, heralds the rusty palette of fall instead.

The change of colors isn’t the only thing different in 2021. Runners will have to meet strict testing standards to compete. Departure times have been changed to increase safety. Spectators have been urged to refrain from some of the traditions close to racing, such as Wellesley’s “tunnel of screams” or runners’ embraces.

The race will also mark and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, after officials apologized for interfering with the holidays.

Here’s a look at everything Marathon Monday. We will continue to update this as the day progresses.

Time

Expect temperatures in the 60s, with cloudy skies to start the marathon, says meteorologist Dave Epstein.

“There may be a bit of sun this afternoon and the air will look a bit more like early September than October,” he says.

Read the full forecast here.

What you need to know about this year’s marathon

Painter Will Belezos, from Holbrook, left, uses a stencil on Wednesday, Oct.6, 2021, while working to complete the start line for the 125th annual Boston Marathon, at Hopkinton. (Steven Senne / AP)

“The differences are many, starting with the return of a traditional feature of the New England calendar, a sign of normalcy after more than a year of a deadly pandemic,” writes Alex Ashlock. “It’s also the first Boston Marathon run in October, with fall colors instead of the usual Patriot’s Day spring flowers.”

Start times

Things are a little different at the start line for the general classification riders, who will be released in a rolling start, rather than releasing riders into giant waves. Here are the scheduled start times:

Men’s wheelchair: 8:02 a.m.
Female wheelchair: 8:05 a.m.
Hand bikes and duos: 8:30 a.m.
Professional men: 8:37 a.m.
Professional women: 8:45 a.m.
Para-athletics division: 8:50 a.m.
Rolling start: 9h00

Marathon voice

Tatyana McFadden wins the 2018 Boston Marathon (Courtesy Tatyana McFadden)

“My trainer said, whatever you do, keep going. Your hands are going to hurt. They’re going to get really cold, as we grab our running gloves – so sometimes the traffic stops a bit in really cold weather.,” remembers Tatyana McFadden, five-time winner of the Boston Marathon and one of the most successful marathoners of all time.

Gloria Ratti (right) with Boston Marathon winner Worknesh Degefa and Governor Charlie Baker at the finish line in 2019 (Courtesy of the Boston Athletic Association)

Gloria G. (Graceffa) Ratti passed away in July at the age of 90. On Monday, the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon, will celebrate its 125th run without Gloria, which leaves a hole as deep as Heartbreak Hill is high, ” writes Barbara Huebner long-time beloved “Dean” of the Boston Marathon.

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