The Madrid Marathon is an annual marathon race which takes place in Madrid, Spain, in late April. The event was first held in 1978 and has since gained IAAF Silver Label Road Race status and had over 10,000 runners participate in the 2010 edition.
This live feed is in Madrid for the marathon:
Madrid marathon 2011 live
Event Information:
The race course begins near Paseo de Recoletos and heads north past the Biblioteca Nacional de España, then the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. After 8 kilometres the route turns southwards and heads back towards Nuevos Ministerios. Runners then follow a twisting south-westerly route. After passing Plaza Mayor, it goes north past the Royal Palace of Madrid and reaches the half marathon mark at Parque del Oeste.
After exiting the park, it traces a path south for a few kilometres and includes a six-kilometre loop within Casa de Campo. After a section which loops back south and north, the course heads east towards Madrid Atocha railway station. It runs along the perimeter of Buen Retiro Park and finishes inside the park at Paseo del Duque de Fernán Nuñez. The combination of an undulating course and the altitude of the city has made it difficult for runners to produce fast marathon times. The course is AIMS-certified and is eligible for record performances.
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events.
This live feed is in Boston for the marathon:
Boston Marathon Live
Event Information:
Today, the Boston Athletic Association manages this event. Amateur and professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly New England terrain and varying weather to take part in the race. The event attracts 500,000 spectators each year, making it New England's most widely viewed sporting event. Though starting with 18 participants in 1897, the event now attracts an average of about 20,000 registered participants each year with 25,283 people entering in 2008. The all-time record for the world's largest marathon ever run was the Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 with 38,708 entrants.
The course runs through 26.22 miles (42.195 km) of winding roads, following Route 135, Route 16, Route 30 and city streets into the center of Boston, where the official finish line is located at Copley Square, alongside the Boston Public Library. For this reason, the MBTA suspends service to the Copley Square stop for the day, and runs increased service to the general area. The race runs through eight Massachusetts cities and towns: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston.
The Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the more difficult marathon courses because of the Newton hills, which culminate in Heartbreak Hill near Boston College. While the three hills on Commonwealth Avenue (Route 30) are better known, a preceding hill on Washington Street (Route 16), climbing from the Charles River crossing at 16 miles, is regarded by Dave McGillivray, the 2007 race director, as the course’s most difficult challenge. This hill, which follows a 150 foot drop over the course of one half-mile, forces many lesser-trained runners to a walking pace.
