EVEN IN MISERABLE CONDITIONS, MORE THAN 95 PERCENT OF RUNNERS FINISHED THE MARATHON
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Despite what race officials said were the worst conditions in the Boston Marathon’s 122-year history, more than 95 percent of the runners who started in Hopkinton crossed the finish line in Copley Square Monday.
“It tells you about the people that are passionate about this race and determined to run under any condition and finish,” race director Dave McGillivray said at the Boston Athletic Association’s customary Tuesday morning wrapup news conference.
Of the 30,087 entrants, 27,362 picked up their bib numbers, 27,042 of them started, and 25,822 completed the course. Despite the terrible weather — wind-driven rain and a windchill around freezing — the number of runners needing treatment was relatively modest. Post-race figures showed that 2,795 runners were treated throughout the course, including 1,109 treated in the two finish-line tents and 25 elite competitors. Ninety-one runners were taken to hospitals for further treatment, and 10 remained there as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“If you look at those numbers and you compare them to past years, they’re a little lower than we’ve had in some of our warm years,” medical coordinator Chris Troyanos said. “But numbers don’t tell the story about how many had mild-to-moderate hypothermia and needed to rewarm.”
Troyanos said that another 744 runners were treated after being picked up by buses along the course.
“That’s triple what we’ve ever seen,” he reckoned.
Despite the meteorological miseries, all of the events went off the line on schedule.
“No one wishes for conditions like that,” said McGillivray. “But sometimes it’s a good feeling to have those kinds of challenges so that going forward you’re not afraid.”