The 126th Boston Marathon is taking place on Monday, the first time the race will be run on its traditional Patriot’s Day since 2019, following cancellations and postponements due to the Covid pandemic.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2022 marathon, including the course, top athletes, how to watch, and coronavirus precautions.
When is the 2022 Boston Marathon?
The race will take place on Monday, 18 April, 2022, with the 26.2 race along its traditional course from rural Hopkinton through the Boston suburbs and into downtown, where it will conclude near the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.
Where and when can I watch the Boston Marathon?
The marathon will be broadcast from 8.30am ET to 1pm on the USA Network, with an encore showing on the Olympic Channel at 8pm ET.
Streaming viewers can tune in on the NBC Sports App, from 8.30am ET to 1pm ET.
UK audiences can watch the action on the FloTrack subscription service.
How did the pandemic impact the race?
The 2020 race was canceled, and the 2021 competition was pushed back until October of that year, due to Covid concerns.
This year, the race returns to its traditional start date of Patriot’s Day, a regional holiday celebrated in New England marking the beginning of the American Revolution.
An estimated 30,000 runners will take part in the historic race which has been run since 1897, according to organisers.
What’s new in the Boston Marathon this year?
This year, there was no set cutoff time to enter the marathon. Anyone who completed a marathon with a verifiable qualifying time was allowed to register for 2022, according to the Boston Athletic Association.
"I know that this is not the most important thing in the world at this moment with everything going on in the world, but this race means so much to so many people, and not just the runners," BAA chief operating officer Jack Fleming told The Boston Globe.
"It’s the volunteers. It’s the city. We’re really happy to play our part in delivering to them an experience that they’ve hoped for, that maybe they’ve seen as a spectator on TV or from a friend, that they’ve heard about, but that they’ve never experienced themselves.”
Is there a vaccine requirement for the 2022 Boston Marathon?
All competitors are required to be vaccinated, according to organisers, following last year’s marathon which had a 93 per cent vaccination rate.
Who will be running in the 2022 Boston Marathon?
Celebrities including former US women’s national team soccer players Heather O’Reilly, Leslie Osbourne, Kristine Lilly, as well as NASCAR Cup Series champ Matt Kenseth, and Matt James of The Bachelor, will all be on the course.
So will a stacked field of pros. Eleven of the entrants on the men’s side have a personal best marathon within three minutes of the men’s record at Bostonn. The 2021 men’s winner Benson Kipruto will be racing again this year.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first women’s field at the Boston Marathon. Last summer’s gold and bronze Olympic medal winner, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya and Molly Seidel of the US, will be competing in a strong women’s field as well.
When does the Boston Marathon Start?
Start times at the marathon are staggered. The wheelchair division will begin at 9am ET, and the men’s and women’s elite groups will start at 9:37am and 9:45am, respectively. Meanwhile, the para-athletics division will start at 9:50am, with the rest of the general field beginning in waves after 10am.
