The Boston Marathon is one of the greatest racing events in the world. The idea for the Marathon began in the late nineteenth century when United States Olympic team manager, John Graham, wanted to establish a counterpart to the Olympic Marathon held in Greece in 1896. He wanted to do this in his adopted city of Boston, Massachusetts. Graham drove his horse carriage outside of Boston to try to find a place that resembled the Grecian terrain. He found it in Ashland and began making plans for laying out the course that would stretch to Boston. The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) was the official organizer of the event. The running of the inaugural Boston Marathon occurred on April 19, 1897, Patriot's Day in Massachusetts. There were only eighteen competitors. The Boston Marathon helped bring distance running to the forefront of the American sports world. Equally important, the...