Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the first wheelchair race at the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. Bob Hall and Bill Rodgers both trained for the 1975 Boston Marathon—Rodgers on his feet, and Hall in his wheelchair. Both would win that year.
For Rodgers, it was the first of four victories in his hometown contest. His success earned him the nickname “Boston Billy” and set off a national running craze. But when Rodgers gave Hall’s wheelchair a try, he was outmatched.
“I tried to push myself in that chair. I couldn’t move,” Rodgers recalled this week.
Fifty years later, the chairs are sleeker, the fields are bigger, and Hall’s successors are literally leading the way at the Boston Marathon. The push-rim wheelchair division was the first to depart from Hopkinton on Monday morning.
There was excitement in Rodgers’ former division too. Kenyan John Korir fell at the starting line. But he jumped up and ran to victory in 2:04:45 (two hours, four minutes, 45 seconds). He and his brother Wesley are now the first relatives ever with Boston wins.
Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi won the women’s race after finishing second to Hellen Obiri by eight seconds last year. Lokedi finished in 2:17:22—a women’s course record.
It was déjà vu as Lokedi found herself in another race to the finish with Obiri. This time, Lokedi prevailed, finishing 19 seconds ahead.
The reversal wasn’t lost on Lokedi. “I’m just so grateful to her for pushing me all the way through,” she says with a laugh.
But before those wins, more than 40 men and women in wheelchairs, many with paralympic and major marathon victories on their resumés, took off ahead of the field of 30,000 runners.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland claimed his eighth victory in 1:21:34. Susannah Scaroni of the United States took the women’s title in 1:35:20.
“I always feel emotional when the national anthem is played,” Scaroni said after her win. “And to have ours played on this amazing, historic anniversary gives me goosebumps.”
Back in 1975, Hall covered the distance in 2:58. His prize: a certificate of achievement—just like the ones the runners got.
“It was about the inclusion,” says Hall. He was a grand marshal of this year’s race along with Rodgers. The pair are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their ’75 victories. “I didn’t care if anybody got on my coattails,” Hall comments. “It was that I was bringing people along.”
“Because of him crossing that finish line, we’re able to race today,” five-time Boston winner and eight-time Paralympic gold medalist Tatyana McFadden says. “It was him being brave and saying, ‘I’m going to go out and do this because I believe that we should be able to race Boston Marathon just like everyone else.’”
McFadden didn’t just follow Hall to the course. As a seven- or eight-year-old, her first racing chair was one of the youth-sized models that he designed and built for aspiring wheelchair athletes. Daniel Romanchuk, who has won Boston twice, and Marcel Hug also got started on Bob Hall models.
“Bob Hall is an incredible man,” McFadden said last week. “I’m so thankful for him. And I think we all are, as wheelchair racers, because he really paved the way.”
