Wheelchair‑racing pioneer dies

Bob Hall, the first officially recognized Boston Marathon wheelchair champion, has died at 74. (baa.org) The Boston Athletic Association said Hall’s family confirmed his death on Sunday, April 12, eight days before the 130th Boston Marathon on April 20, 2026. Hall served as grand marshal for the 129th race in 2025. (wcvb.com) Hall raced Boston in 1975 after writing race director Will Cloney and asking to be allowed in if he could finish in under three hours. He did it in 2 hours, 58 minutes, and the result helped establish the marathon’s wheelchair division. (bostonglobe.com) He won Boston again in 1977, when the race also hosted the first National Wheelchair Championship. The Boston Athletic Association said he was a two-time champion, in 1975 and 1977. (baa.org) Wheelchair racing at Boston now sits inside a much larger para-athletics program than the one Hall entered alone in 1975. The Associated Press reported that more than 1,900 wheelchair racers have followed him from Hopkinton to Boston, and this year’s race will include 50 wheelchair entrants plus 50 athletes across eight para divisions competing for more than $300,000 in prize money. (wbur.org) Hall’s influence extended beyond his own results. The Boston Athletic Association and Running USA said he helped turn standard wheelchairs into specialized racing chairs built for speed and used by later generations of elite racers. (runningusa.org) Many top athletes learned in chairs Hall built, according to the Associated Press, including Tatyana McFadden and seven-time Boston winner Marcel Hug. Hall was a childhood polio survivor, and several reports said he died after a long illness. (wbur.org) When Boston brought Hall back as grand marshal in April 2025, the Boston Athletic Association said he pushed himself down Boylston Street and crossed the finish line one final time. A year later, the race he helped force open returns without him. (baa.org)