The Boston Marathon is an annual event hosted by the city of Boston, Massachusetts
on Patriot’s Day, the third Monday of April. It began in 1897 and was inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events. The first marathon started with 18 participants, and today it attracts an average of 20,000 registered participants each year. It is the most widely viewed sporting event in New England.

Earliest known photo the the Boston Marathon, dated 1904