Bob Hall remembered

Bob Hall, the wheelchair racing pioneer who forced the Boston Marathon to make room for athletes like him, has died at 74. (baa.org) The Boston Athletic Association said Hall’s family confirmed his death on Sunday, April 12, 2026, after a long illness. Organizers announced it eight days before the 130th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20. (baa.org) Hall entered the 1975 race after race director Will Cloney told him he could compete if he finished in under three hours. Hall crossed in 2:58, earned a finisher’s certificate, and became the first official wheelchair champion in Boston Marathon history. (boston.com) He won Boston’s wheelchair division again in 1977. The Boston Athletic Association said nearly 2,000 wheelchair athletes have finished the race in the five decades since Hall’s first start. (baa.org) Wheelchair racing in Hall’s era began with everyday chairs adapted for speed, not the lightweight, aerodynamic equipment used now. Hall later helped build the sport’s technology by designing racing chairs that many top athletes grew up using. (baa.org ) Hall was a Belmont, Massachusetts, native and a childhood polio survivor. The Associated Press reported that corrective surgery left his right ankle permanently fused before he turned to racing and chair design. (boston.com) Boston honored him again last year, when the Boston Athletic Association named Hall a grand marshal for the 129th Boston Marathon on the 50th anniversary of his first victory. The association said he rode the course celebration from Hopkinton to Boston and pushed the final stretch on Boylston Street. (baa.org) The tribute lands as Boston prepares for another marathon week built in part on the division Hall opened in 1975. The field that once depended on one man beating a three-hour condition now returns as a permanent part of the race. (baa.org; boston.com)