Apr 18, 2007 Doug Kurtis Column: Boston 111th By Doug Kurtis :: Views- 251
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Traditions and innovations marked this year’s 111th running of the Boston Marathon.

On Saturday morning at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, the Boston Athletic Association continued its yearly celebration of honoring past heroes on their anniversary. 1957 winner John J. Kelly, known as the younger Kelly, is the only BAA club member to win the Boston Marathon, he went on to finish second four times.

Kathrine Switzer was recognized as the first women to obtain an official number to the marathon. She joined the ranks of the men in 1967 by registering as K.V. Switzer and became immortalized when official Jock Semple tried unsuccessfully to pull her of the course. Toshiko Seko was the last Japanese runner to win Boston. He won in 1981 and 1987. To honor his presence he was expected to throw out the first pitch at Sunday’s Red Sox game.

All three were at the starting line band shell for the kick off of the pre race Freedom Run that provides out of town runners the opportunity to run through some of the historic parts of downtown Boston.

A few new twists and turns were added this year and they had nothing to do with the course. The traditional noon start was left behind and some runners crossed the starting mat in another country while one ran the race from space.
After several years of hot weather, overtaxed medical units and complaints from runners, the organizers began the main race in two waves, one at 10 am and another at 10:30. The elite women have a separate race and left the Hopkinton starting line at 9:30 am.

Weather was the main topic of discussion all weekend as runners scurried through the wet streets to pick up their race numbers at the expo. Announcements were continually made, asking them to dress appropriately and prepare for difficult conditions.

Sunday night gusty winds were tearing apart umbrellas but not the weighted down tents and port-a-potties. By race time cool temperatures and light rain had the most effect on runners. Plastic bag raincoats were the fashion statement of the day.

Another special event was created several years ago for U.S. military forces stationed in Iraq. They competed in their own Boston Marathon with race numbers, T shirts and medals provided by the BAA.

Local television was able to capture NASA astronaut Sunita Williams running her own version of the Boston Marathon from the international space station. Satellite pictures showed her weighted down to a treadmill with race number 14,000 taped to the front. She finished unofficially in 4 hours and 23 minutes as the station was traveling over Russia. Her sister Pandya completed the marathon on the ground just nine minutes of ahead of her but under better conditions. It was 78 degrees in the space station.

Some local notables: Paul Aufdemberge passed two of his competitors in the last mile to take third in the master’s division. Moving to a new age group must have motivated Nina Bovio from Ann Arbor to run one of her best performances in recent years. Bovio finished 7th in the over 60 division with a time of 3:55:37.

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