Boston Marathon

Members of a Black-led running group filed suit on the cusp of this year’s Boston Marathon alleging racial discrimination by race organizers and Newton police for the way they were corralled and surrounded while trying to cheer on their friends along the course at Heartbreak Hill during last year’s race.

The 128th edition of the Boston Marathon played to the script as male and female runners of color continued the current trend of dominant performances in this event. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia took the lead from the start of the race and completed his surprising wire-to-wire victory in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds.

This year marks the 128th running of the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual long-distance race. For many Black running clubs and individual runners, this event is a culmination of months of training, sacrifice and community.

My history with the Boston Marathon dates to my freshman year at Boston University. I remember the newspaper and television reports leading up to the event. Out of pure curiosity, I got a firsthand look at the proceedings.

The incident at the Boston Marathon where Newton police surrounded members of two racially diverse running clubs along the course has called attention to how runners of color often feel unwelcome at races, locally and across the country.

Adrienne R. Benton, a marathoner who ran her first 5K race just eight years ago, has been named to the Boston Athletic Association’s Board of Governors, becoming the first woman of color to serve in this role in the organization’s 135-year-history.

The Indigenous Peoples Day (IPD) Newton Committee began circulating a petition April 1 calling on the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) to change the date of the Boston Marathon. The effort came after the City of Newton denied the group a permit to use a desired park for their first Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on Oct. 11, 2021.