After some professional athletes refused to participate in the prize-free tournament, the Boston Marathon adjusted and supplemented the prize money with the support of its sponsors. Today, the bonus is one of the most attractive factors to attract the world’s top athletes to compete.
It took place in the United States, where equality was prized. Women were not allowed to attend until 1972. This was due to social stereotypes about women’s abilities would not allow them to participate in the long run of 1.5 miles or more.
In 1966, despite being an uninvited guest, Bobbi Gibb disguised as a man started with the men and became the first woman to complete a full marathon at the Boston Marathon. It is worth mentioning, Bobbi ran very well, faster than 2/3 of the male athletes participating. Bobbi has dominated the women’s race for three years in a row.
The achievement of Bobbi and 1 other female athlete (also won first place for 3 consecutive years after that) made the organizer of Boston Marathon later officially recognized and awarded a medal on the occasion of this 100-year-old run. In 1975, the Boston Marathon pioneered the organization of a wheelchair marathon.
BostonMarathon-supporter
2013 marked one of the most tragic moments of this century’s run. The terrorists placed bombs 200 meters from the target, killing three people and injuring more than 250 participants.
The organizer was forced to stop in the middle of the event. A lot of athletes fail to become the “Finisher” (who completes the distance in a limited time) that year.
Evil has crept cowardly at a pure sporting event, in the Olympic’s most fundamental sport. Boston Marathon lovers have shown that they are not afraid of terrorists. Two years later, the Boston Marathon still attracted a lot of athletes to participate, and the audience came to watch and cheer.
The Boston Marathon belongs to the system of the 6 largest Marathon in the world. It is considered that this is the most famous marathon in the world today. Most of the top marathon runners gather in this tournament to compete. In 1996, the Boston Marathon set the record for the largest number of attendees at that time. The number of participants reached 38,708.
Due to “demand” exceeding “supply”, the number of applications from all over the world poured in too large forcing the Boston Marathon organizer to adjust, raising the criteria for participating in the tournament higher since 2013.