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How did the Boston Marathon start line end up in Hopkinton?

It's been a century since the last time the race took off from Ashland. Here's how Hopkinton inherited the start line.

By Khari Thompson

April 10, 2023

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A short walk away from the Ashland commuter rail stop lies Marathon Park, where a blue sign with gold letters and the image of runners captured mid-stride stands to greet visitors.

“Ashland,” the sign reads. “It all started here.”

The Boston Marathon began in 1897, but the starting line didn’t move from Ashland to neighboring Hopkinton until 1924.

“One hundred years ago this April was the last time the race started in Ashland,” said Tim Kilduff, president of the 26.2 Foundation.

The starting line’s current location is a short distance west of where it was when runners took off from Ashland’s Metcalf’s Mill during Boston’s first marathon.

So, why is the line in Hopkinton now? The answer, like the inspiration for the race itself, has Olympic roots.

A standardized distance pushed the start line further west.

The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896, and it was the inspiration for the first Boston Marathon, which took place the following year.

The race was 24.8 miles long, in honor of Pheidippides, the Greek messenger who died running from Marathon to Athens in 490 BC. But that was more of a symbolic distance.

There wasn’t a standardized marathon distance at the time.

“There was no set [distance], just like you may have a baseball field these days,” Boston Athletic Association president Jack Fleming said. “MLB fields don’t have to be exactly the same size in the outfield. There’s different configurations. Of course the pitchers mound to home plate, and the bases and all that are the same, but the field configurations were different.

“That’s one aspect that makes our sport of road running special. Each course is special and unique onto it’s own.”

The standard marathon distance, which is 26 miles, 385 feet, was introduced during the 1908 Olympic Games in London. The marathon began at Windsor Castle that year and finished in front of the King and Queen’s box at the Olympic Stadium in London 26 miles and 385 feet away.

The distance changed several times before being permanently adopted by the International Association of Athletic Federations in 1921.

In order to lengthen the Boston Marathon course to meet the standard distance, the starting line was moved west from Ashland to Hopkinton.

Why does the race start west of Boston?

According to Fleming, the Boston Marathon course is virtually unchanged from when it started in 1897 except for a few changes to the start and finish lines over the years.

According to the BAA’s website, various routes were considered when U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham and Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton organized the first race.

Ashland was picked as a starting point, the website says, because of its proximity and access to trains. Runners coming from Boston could take the train out to Ashland and run back into the city.

There were also prominent BAA members who lived in the area.

“You could imagine a small group getting together and trying to plan, and someone saying, ‘Hey, I live right out there, I know the area. We can do it here, I can talk to this person. The train would stop, we would stage them, we’ll check them in, we’ll clerk them, and then we’ll start right at noon,'” Fleming said.

“When you go to that Ashland start line and envision one of the early BAA founders dragging his heel across that dirt road you can really feel the spirit.”

Who was “The Starter?”

One Hopkinton resident who played an instrumental role in bringing the start line to Hopkinton was George V. Brown.

“He got involved with Olympic track,” said Brown’s grandson, Tom Burke. “And the first Olympics that he went to as a track coach and an official was in 1908. He was always at the Olympics up until the 1936 one. He passed away in 1937. But, he was on the U.S. Olympic track committee. He was an assistant coach for a couple of Olympics. He was an official, a finish line official at the Los Angeles Olympics in ’36.

“Somewhere along the way in his involvement with the Olympics, he got the BAA to be the United States trial, and in order to do that, they had to lengthen the start from Ashland back to Hopkinton.”

A statue of Brown stands near the start line on Hopkinton Common. He’s wearing a jacket over a dress shirt and tie and holding a pistol in the air.

The statue, which was commissioned in 2008, is called “The Starter.”

For more than three decades, Brown fired a shot from a pistol to signify the start of the race.

He began firing the starter’s pistol in 1905 while the race still started in Ashland, and various members of the Brown family have kept the tradition alive over the years.

Nicknamed Hopkinton’s “First Citizen of Sport,” the former BAA president also managed the Boston Garden and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. His son, Walter A. Brown, founded the Boston Celtics.

“The Brown family preserved the organization through the toughest times it was going through,” Fleming said. “When things were getting tough, the Brown family was a thread of continuity.”

@bostondotcom A short walk away from the Ashland commuter rail stop lies Marathon Park, where a blue sign with gold letters and the image of runners captured mid-stride stands to greet visitors. “Ashland,” the sign reads. “It all started here.” The Boston Marathon began in 1897, but the starting line didn’t move from Ashland to neighboring Hopkinton until 1924. So, why is the line in Hopkinton now? The answer, like the inspiration for the race itself, has Olympic roots. For the full story head to the link in our bio. :athletic_shoe: #Boston #Bostonma #Massachusetts #bostonmarathon #hopkinton #running #marathon #marathontiktok ♬ Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral – WZ Beat