Boston Marathon weekend

Boston Marathon weekend has turned Boston into a three-day running festival, with the 130th race set for Monday, April 20. (baa.org) About 30,000 runners are entered in the marathon, and the Boston Athletic Association says they come from more than 130 countries and all 50 states. The race starts in Hopkinton and finishes 26.2 miles later on Boylston Street. (baa.org) The elite field is scheduled to begin just after 9 a.m. Monday, and the mass start now rolls out in six waves instead of four. The Boston Athletic Association said the last runners are expected to cross the start before 11:30 a.m., with the finish line closing at 5:30 p.m. (baa.org) That six-wave format is new for 2026. The field size stayed at 30,000, but wave sizes were cut to roughly 3,200 to 7,100 runners to ease bus loading, Athletes’ Village crowding, and flow on the course. (baa.org) The weekend is bigger than Monday’s race. Runners and spectators have been cycling through the Bank of America Boston Marathon Expo at the Hynes Convention Center and Fan Fest at City Hall Plaza, where organizers scheduled food, entertainment, and family activities. (cbsnews.com) Saturday’s Boston 5K served as the opening race of the weekend and drew 9,306 finishers, according to the Boston Athletic Association. Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune and Gela Hambese won the open races, while Marcel Hug won the wheelchair race in 10:25 and Tatyana McFadden won the women’s wheelchair race in 12:29. (baa.org) The marathon remains the world’s oldest annual marathon, first run in 1897, and it is still staged on Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts. The Boston Athletic Association also lists it as part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series. (baa.org, baa.org) By Sunday night, the finish line on Boylston Street is already in place and the city is waiting for the first starters in Hopkinton. Monday’s race will decide the champions, but the weekend crowds have already arrived. (baa.org, cbsnews.com)