Newton school runners invited to run before Marathon

Runners from schools in Newton and the other seven communities along the Boston Marathon route will run in a new Invitational Mile the day before the big race, the Boston Athletic Association announced Monday.

The BAA said that Olympic bronze-medalist Shalane Flanagan, of Marblehead, will headline the program as part of a pre-Marathon set of contests on April 19.

The Invitational Mile will be held along with the inaugural BAA 5K the day before the 113th Boston Marathon. The invitational will feature one mile races for professional men and women, plus one mile races for scholastic girls and boys from the eight communities along the marathon route: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Boston.

The races will end at the Boston Marathon finish line.

"The B.A.A. Invitational Mile is another event we're excited to add to race weekend this year," said Guy Morse, B.A.A. Executive Director. "It's a great opportunity to give the young athletes from our host cities and towns the chance to compete on the homestretch of the Boston Marathon course, and we're especially proud to carry on a B.A.A. tradition of hosting scholastic races. Add to that the professional miles and the B.A.A. 5K, and we expect a fun and successful day."

The Boston Athletic Association said it has "offered scholastic races as far back as 1890, including the B.A.A. Schoolboy Games that began in the mid-1900s and ran through the early 1970s.''

Flanagan brought home the bronze medal at 10,000 meters from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She is only the second American woman to win an Olympic medal at 10,000 meters, after Lynn Jennings's bronze in 1992.

The schedule announced Monday would begin at 9:30 on Sunday April 19, starting off with the girl's scholastic race.

The Mile will follow a three-loop course, beginning on Boylston Street, left on Dartmouth Street, left on Newbury Street, left on Exeter Street then left onto Boylston.

Both the 5K and Mile will begin on Boylston Street near Copley Square Park, and end at the Boston Marathon finish line. Registration for the 5K is available at www.baa.org; the field is limited to 4,000 runners and is filling up fast.