70,000 Descend on Hopkinton, Many Run Out of Town

If you have your doubts about staggering the starts of the Boston Marathon at the Hopkinton starting line, doubt no more.

With technology that measures exactly when a runner crosses the start and finish lines, the Boston Athletic Association has made the start seven times as exciting.

An army of volunteers and police kept order and the crowd was jubiliant and good natured throughout the morning, even with the inevitable jostling that goes on in good spots close to the start.

People from California crowded with their fellow East Coast running enthusiasts to see dad or mom, daughter, son, sibling or a friend start the grueling run to Boston.

Music played from huge speakers throughout the morning's preparation at just the right loudness.

Every so often, Trooper Dan, a retired state police officer, would sing America the Beautiful, the National Anthem, or the theme songs of the differnt military services fin honor of Patriots Day.

The PA announcers, who have been at the start of many races, and run in a few including jumping into the third wave of this 115th Boston Marathon, kept the crowd going with introductions of local dignitaries and famous runners, including four-time winner Bill Rodgers, the 2011 Grand Marshal, and four-time winner and Olympic Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, who started with the elite men at 10 a.m.

World-famous runners Rick Hoyt, who has cerebral paalsy, and his 70-year-old dad Dick, who pushes Rick's wheelchair, are always winners. They have created Team Hoyt, a group of runners who collect donations to support children with disabilities. Their motto: Yes! You! Can!

The speedsters who took home the big money in the 115th Boston Marathon were Caroline Kilel of Kenya with a time of 2:22:36. American  Desiree Davila of Michigan was two seconds behind her. 

Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya broke Robert Cheruiyot's 2010 Boston record of 2:05:52 with a fleet 2:03:02—closing in on to three minutes faster and earning Mutai extra prize money from John Hancock Financial, which sponsors the race.

U.S. hopeful Ryan Hall's personal best time of 2:04:58 gave him fourth place behinbd Kenya's Moses Mosop and Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia.

Japanese wheelchair racers Wakako Tsuchida, and Masazumi Soejima gave reeling-from-disaster Japan something to cheer about by winning the women's and men's wheelchair races. 

Tsuchida has an inspiring story as Japan's first women’s professional wheelchair racer. She lost her legs in a car accident 20 years ago and made herself into a world-class athlete.

Speaking of world-class, from the first start for runners with mobility handicaps through the third-wave and finally to the un-numbered bandits, the crowd cheered and runners cheered, yelped, jumped, kissed, juggled, danced, wore tutus, bunny ears, full firefighter gear and took photos of themselves and the spectacle as they crossed the Hopkinton start.

Next year, we hope these 27,000 runners—and more—do it again.