On the afternoon of April 26, local time, the Boston Athletics Association (B.A.A.) officially unveiled the plaque awarded the Boston Marathon World Athletics Heritage in 2019, which will be placed in the competition museum located near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in the competition museum at the B.A.A. headquarters.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is an honorary award for individuals, events, organizations, magazines or cities that have made outstanding contributions to the history and development of world athletics and to off-field sports such as cross-country, mountain, road, supercar and race walking.
B.A.A.A Chairman and CEO Thomas S. Grilk and World Athletics Heritage Director Chris Turner inaugurated the plaque in the company of B.A.A.'s Chief Operating Officer Jack Fleming and other staff.
A "little hard" event
The most challenging section of the Boston Marathon is undoubtedly the Heartbreak Hill in the final few kilometers, where runners have to climb six hundred meters in nine kilometers, and many world champions have also been challenged on this track.
It is worth noting that although the Boston Marathon is famous all over the world and has a very high status in the hearts of runners, only 5 Olympic champions have won the Boston Marathon so far, 4 of whom are women. The most recent Olympic winner of the Boston Marathon was Peres Jepchirchir from Kenya, who won the 126th Boston Marathon in a 2:21:01 victory.
"American Marathon"
B.A.A. was founded in 1887, 10 years before the birth of the Boston Marathon. One of the members of the association, John Graham, who had worked as team leader of the American team at the 1896 Athens Olympics, witnessed the marathon at the time and then proposed a similar long-distance running program in Boston. In 1987, a year after the Athens Olympics, the Boston Marathon was officially born.
The race was originally called the "American Marathon" because it has been held every year on the third Monday of April on Patriots' Day in the United States since its inception. Today, race vests, running shoes, medals and trophies, as well as hundreds of historical memorabilia housed in the B.A.A Museum, pay homage to the city's famous marathon.
B.A.A Collectibles
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque, awarded by the World Athletics Federation, is hung on one of the walls inside the B.A.A Museum's showcase, symbolizing that the Boston Marathon has become part of a treasure trove of artifacts associated with the legendary history of long-distance running.
The B.A.A Museum houses a number of monumental artifacts from the event's history, including the medal for the winner of the 1903 Boston Marathon, the race number of Jepchirchir, the 2022 Boston Marathon women's champion, the permanent championship trophy, and prizes for the first Boston Marathon in 1897.
In the future, runners will have the opportunity to go to Boston to participate in the marathon, and they can visit the B.A.A Museum located near the finish line to see these exhibits and this WAF Heritage plaque.
The history of the development of the Boston Marathon and the culture formed also have a positive significance for other cities to hold marathon events, sports and road running events can drive the development of the city, but how to make the running gene better integrated with the urban culture is a problem that is more worthy of consideration by domestic marathon events.