In keeping with tradition, the 128th Boston Marathon will commence Monday, April 15 in Hopkinton.
A record 33,000 athletes applied to run the historic race and more than 22,000 were awarded bibs – half of whom are first-timers.
The Boston Athletic Association reserves several thousand numbers for philanthropic participants – like Katherine O’Shea, a kindergarten teacher from Westford. She first donned a bib in 2021 to benefit Boston Children’s Hospital where her sister, Charlotte, was a patient.
This year, she’s pounding the pavement for the School Psychology Program at William James College in Newton – her alma mater (and home of Heartbreak Hill).
– Hannah Van Sickle, The 100 Companies