Boston Course Guide

In case you don't want to read the whole guide at once, I've copied the first few miles below and will add more over the upcoming two weeks.  I should say that by the time I got to the 2nd 1/2 of the guide, I was getting really excited and some chills for the upcoming race!

Mile-By-Mile Guide To The Boston Marathon « CBS Boston

It’s a legendary course that stretches for 26.2 miles through beautiful suburban streets and right into the heart of downtown Boston. It’s on many a bucket list and its uphills and downhills have broken many a runner.

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

If you are one of the 25,000+ people registered to run this year’s Boston Marathon, keep reading! There are other course guides out there, but this one was written from years of experience, complete with visual cues, crowd cues, physical cues and strategy tips.

WBZ and Boston Marathon alumnus Peg Rusconi wrote this after her 12th marathon – 6 of them in Boston. Whether it’s your first of fifteenth time running Boston, you’re sure to find Peg’s insight, which follows, valuable.

View: Course Map (pdf)

Boston Marathon Start Line in Hopkinton (WBZ/Peg Rusconi)

Start Line to Mile 1

A possibly restless night and a long morning of waiting are finally in your rearview, as the starter’s pistol sounds and you’re bound for Boylston Street. Sort of. Honestly, the road between the Start line on the Hopkinton Green and the first mile marker might be lost in a haze of emotion, adrenalin, nerves – and bodies.

The surrounding pack of marathoners makes it hard to focus on much else, but this smothering situation will save you from yourself. It will keep you from barreling off on a jitter-fueled tear on the surprisingly steep drop that’s just past the start. You’ll hit a little uphill around the 1k mark, but this narrow stretch of rural road drops 130 feet – think a 13-story building – in that first mile.

Don’t waste energy trying to zigzag around people; you can show off in the miles ahead.

Expect very big crowds of spectators here.

Mile 1 to Mile 2

Everything about that hyper-frenzied first mile moderates as you travel the second mile toward Ashland. The downhill pitch flattens out a little, the spectator crowds thin a little, the field of runners spreads out a little. Now you can get your head centered and find your running rhythm.

One thing that might surprise you is the rolling hills early in the race. There’s little of real significance beyond that monster drop in the first mile, but if you’ve earned your marathon stripes running flat courses and arrive in Boston expecting the hills to start in Newton, you might be caught off guard. Newton is just where the REAL hills start.

If you’re measuring your progress by checking off the course’s 8 cities and towns, get ready to cross Hopkinton off your list.

Hello Ashland!