FENWAY PARK MARATHON RETURNS, EXPANDING FIELD TO 75 FOR RACE INSIDE THE STORIED BALLPARK ON AUG. 24
Organized by Dave McGillivray’s DMSE Sports, the inaugural race last year raised $320,000 to benefit the Red Sox Foundation
The groundbreaking Fenway Park Marathon will return for a second year on Aug. 24 with an expanded field, this year offering 75 runners the rare opportunity to complete an entire marathon inside the storied ballpark.
Each runner accepted into the race must agree to raise a minimum of $5,000 in exchange for a bib. The funds raised will benefit the Red Sox Foundation, the official charity of the Boston Red Sox that primarily focuses on youth programming and cancer research. At the inaugural race in 2017, the 50 participants raised a total of $320,000.
For an application, runners can e-mail the Red Sox Foundation at redsoxfoundation@redsox.com and for more information, see details at https://www.redsoxfoundation.org/event/fenwayparkmarathon/. Applications will be accepted on a first-come basis. Last year’s race filled within days.
The Fenway Park Marathon, organized by Dave McGillivray’s DMSE Sports, remains the first and only marathon to be run totally within a major-league stadium. The 26.2-mile course loops around the perimeter of the warning track 113 times, featuring a water stop in center field and the finish line by the Red Sox home dugout. The 373-meter laps will be monitored electronically. Spectators are welcome.
“It’s wonderful that we had such a successful inaugural race last year and now are entering our second year of this unique race,” said Dave McGillivray, a lifelong Red Sox fan who has run into Fenway Park numerous times to finish various epic runs, including two cross-country runs and one East Coast run for charity.
“As a die-hard Red Sox fan and as a young boy growing up in the area, I dreamed of playing second base in Fenway Park. Although that never happened, I substituted running into Fenway Park for playing in Fenway Park,” he added. “It’s neat that even more runners this year will have their own dream-come-true opportunity to complete an entire marathon inside the ballpark.”
McGillivray, 63, who will again join the marathon field, is race director of the Fenway Park Marathon as well as the B.A.A. Boston Marathon and numerous other prominent road races managed by his firm, DMSE Sports.
Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912, is one of the most well-known sports venues in the world, featuring the Green Monster in left field.
Spectators will be allowed into Fenway Park at no charge to watch the marathon, which is scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 24.
McGillivray and his DMSE Sports have familiarity with incorporating Fenway Park and other iconic sports venues into running events. DMSE presently directs the Run to Home Base 9K, set for July 28, which starts on Jersey Street and finishes on the warning track by the Green Monster. The company also directs the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 road race (July 3) that ends at midfield inside Gillette Stadium.
And new this year, DMSE Sports is producing the inaugural MR8K at TD Garden on Labor Day (Sept. 3), the first-ever 5-mile course (8K) to bring participants beneath TD Garden’s storied rafters with a finish line on the floor of TD Garden.
About the Red Sox Foundation
The official team charity of the Boston Red Sox, the Red Sox Foundation has distributed over $96 million to support programs serving children and families across New England. The Foundation’s efforts are primarily focused on five cornerstone programs: the Red Sox Scholars Program, which provides tutoring, mentoring, enrichment programs and a college scholarship to academically talented but economically disadvantaged Boston public school students; the Red Sox Foundation's RBI and Rookie League youth baseball and softball programs serving more than 2,000 inner city teens each summer; the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat stress and traumatic brain injury; The Dimock Center in Roxbury, serving more than 80,000 low-income families in Boston’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods; and The Jimmy Fund, supporting breakthrough cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Red Sox Foundation raises funds through special events, corporate sponsorships, and grants. Founded and initially funded by Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry, Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Emeritus Larry Lucchino and their partners, the Red Sox Foundation has won numerous awards for the impact of its innovative programs. In 2010, the Foundation’s Red Sox Scholars program was recognized by Major League Baseball with the first-ever “MLB Commissioner’s Award for Philanthropic Excellence.” In 2009, the Red Sox Foundation was honored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Sports Philanthropy Project with the Patterson Award as the nation’s “Best Team Charity in Sports.” For more information about the foundation, visit redsoxfoundation.org.
About DMSE Sports
Founded by Dave McGillivray in 1981, DMSE Sports is a leader in sports event management, specializing in creating, marketing and producing mass participatory athletic events throughout the U.S. and abroad. DMSE works with the B.A.A operations team in overseeing all the logistics and technical operations of the B.A.A. Boston Marathon, and manages the TD Beach to Beacon in Maine, the New Balance Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod, the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 at Patriot Place, the Feaster Five, and the Bellin Run in Green Bay, Wis., among others. For additional information on McGillivray or DMSE Sports, visit www.dmsesports.com or find DMSE on Facebook and Twitter.