Two things always happen on Patriot's Day -- a holiday that falls on the third Monday in April -- in Boston. At 11:05 a.m., the Red Sox play a home game. At noon, thousands of runners gather to participate in the Boston Marathon, one of the world's most prestigious marathons. This year, they'll also be be celebrating the race's 110th birthday this year.
While the Boston Marathon may be the "Super Bowl of road races" to runners around the world, it is hardly the most exciting sporting event to happen in April -- the same month that hosts the Masters, the Final Four and the NFL Draft.
The Boston Athletic Association is far less of a stranger to change than the impenetrable membership of Augusta National, but the 110th Boston Marathon has a few new subplots that should help attract attention to the under-appreciated event.
Marathons don't lend themselves particularly well to viewing. You can't follow a favorite runner throughout the entire course without training for a few months. You usually can't see more than a couple minutes of running if you stand in the same spot, and all you get to watch is a giant mess of people swinging their arms and legs back and forth.
Whether you run 100 miles a week or have never run in your life, a marathon doesn't carry quite the same entertainment value as LeBron or Kobe driving the lane.
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, I had the pleasure of watching the conclusion of the men's 20-kilometer Walk event. This was, after all, the Olympics. Even if the 20-km Walk is not the Games' most popular competition, I was thrilled to be there.
But regardless of the fact that those guys were the best walk-racers in the world, a huge group of people speed-walking/waddling down the homestretch on a track is a funny sight. As a matter of fact, if the Summer Olympics ever return to a country near you, don't miss the 20-km Walk; it will be a comic experience you will never forget.
The problem with a marathon is that, unlike the Walk, there is nothing funny happening, and there usually isn't much exciting happening before the final 400 meters (unless someone tries to ride the subway as a shortcut). The names of winners usually sound foreign and are soon forgotten.
However, the race directors of the world's five most prestigious marathons want to change all that. They have created the World Major Marathon Series. The series includes the marathons in Boston, New York, Chicago, London and Berlin. Organizers plan to split a $1 million dollar prize between the male and female winners over the two-year cycle.
The plan might sound a bit gimmicky at first, but I would not be surprised if it makes an enormous impact on the interest level of the sport five, 10 or 20 years down the road.
Boston, with its legacy and high qualification standards, will likely remain the most respected marathon in the world. But the Series may help pique interest in the other four races, and more importantly, in marathons in general. People might actually get excited about marathons if someone tries to repeat as Series champion. Think about how much a wildly dominant athlete like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong or Michael Jordan can do to wake people up to their respective sports.
Now that there is an official title to award the "World's Greatest Marathon Runner," will people have something to care about? Time will tell, but it's a certainly a step in the right direction from a publicity standpoint.
It also helps that Patriot's Day falls on the day after Easter this year. What has already been an early weekend holiday for some will segue nicely into the Monday event.
(Still confused about this so-called "Patriot's Day" holiday? You must not be from the State of Maine or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts -- the only two places where it's celebrated. The holiday to commemorate the first battle of the Revolutionary War might be forgotten in 48 states, but Boston has ensured that it doesn't die by associating it with its venerated 26.2-mile footrace.)
Watching people run is not one of life's most pleasurable events to witness. But just like a 20-km Walk in the Olympics, it's not so much about what you're watching as it is about what you're a part of.
