The daffodils have sprouted, the fall foliage has all been raked away, and the Boston Marathon is back in the spring where it belongs.
The world’s most prestigious marathon returns to the streets from Hopkinton to Copley Square on Monday, three years after the last Patriot’s Day race and six months after its 125th edition was delayed, canceled and delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We went for a run this morning and I was like, ‘OK, this is what it’s supposed to be. This feels normal,’” 2018 winner Des Linden said last week. “The energy feels right back where we left off. So that was a nice reminder.”
After a smaller and socially distanced field ran in October, more than 28,000 runners have signed up for Monday’s 26.2-mile slog, including 11 former champions and what could be the fastest field ever.
Also moving quickly: Organizers who had 30 months between the 2019 and ’21 events and then just 139 days since the only fall race in Boston Marathon history.
“And we can’t wait,” Boston Athletic Association President Tom Grilk said.
