Boston Marathon

Lace up tight and forget the shortcuts: here, you don't cheat with legend. The Boston Marathon is a star event in the world of running. 42.195 km of asphalt that you don't tread by chance. You have to have earned it, proved it, run it, bled for it, timed it. So if you're qualified, you're part of a very exclusive club — that of runners who have a date with History.

What you'll find there:

• One format only: 42.195 km taking you from Hopkinton to Boylston Street on the strength of your legs and your mind alone;
• A unique popular fervour, with nearly 500,000 spectators packed along the entire course;
• A strict and unforgiving qualification: times to meet down to the hundredth of a second, and a progressive selection process to separate the best from the very good.

Course focus:

Don't be fooled by the downhill elevation. The Boston Marathon is anything but a gift of a course. The invisible climbs, the treacherous descents, and above all the formidable Heartbreak Hill at the 32nd kilometre make this race a test of endurance rather than a record-breaking terrain. In fact, the official rules prohibit validating world performances here. Too much downhill. Too much wind. Too much of everything.

But that's not the essential point. The real thrill is this mythical crossing of New England, this passage through Wellesley and its "scream tunnels", this final straight on Boylston Street that everyone dreams of running one day. Boston is a pilgrimage. A consecration. A finish line that means more than the clock.

3 (very) good reasons to participate:

• Because nothing beats the thrill of being qualified for Boston;
• To experience a historic marathon that has been running since 1897, and whose every metre drips with tradition, glory and self-surpassing;
• To inscribe your name where so many others have left theirs before you, in a race where Bobbi Gibb defied the rules, where Kathrine Switzer broke down barriers, and where runners write a new page every year of an already legendary story.

So, ready to take on the most iconic marathon in the world? Boston is waiting for you.