109th Running - April 18, 2005


This picture was printed on the back of Gosia's running shirt for the race.


The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon sporting event hosted by the city of Boston, Massachusetts on Patriot's 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, it has become one of the oldest and most popular professional marathon races in the world. Professional runners from all over of the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly New England terrain and unpredictable weather to take part in the race. It begins at noon (wheelchair race begins at 11:45 AM, and the elite women at 11:31 AM) at the official starting point in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The course runs through 42.195 km - 26.2 miles of winding Massachusetts roads, into the center of Boston, where the official finish line is located at Copley Square, just beyond the Boston Public Library. The Marathon attracts an average of about 20,000 registered participants each year. While there is a cash prize awarded to the winners of the marathon, most of the runners take part in the race just to prove that they can run the Boston Marathon. Anyone meeting the qualifications may run in the Marathon. To qualify, a runner must first complete an official "qualifying" marathon course within a period of time.

Unicorn is the symbol of both the Boston Athletic Association and the Boston Marathon. Chosen by the founding members of the Boston Athletic Association in 1887 -- ten years prior to the inaugural Boston Marathon -- the Unicorn is believed to have been chosen as the organization's symbol due to its place in mythology. In Chinese and other mythologies, the Unicorn represents an ideal: something to pursue, but which can never be caught. In pursuit of the Unicorn, however, athletic competitors can approach excellence (but never fully achieve it). It is this pursuit to push oneself to his or her own limit and to the best of one's ability which is at the core of athletics. And for this reason, as the marathon matured, that the B.A.A. also decided that the Unicorn would be the appropriate symbol for the marathon.

Raceday Weather Conditions:

Light N/NW winds 3 mph
70°F / 21°C at the start in Hopkinton
70°F / 21°C at halfway in Wellesley
69°F / 20.5°C at the finish in Boston

Finisher Statistics:

Participants:  ~20,000
Finishers total:  17,549
Male finishers:  10,894
Female finishers:  6,655
Female 40-49 finishers:  2,095

Gosia's Results:

Time:  3:22:04
Pace:  7:42 / mile
Time 1st half:  1:37:23
Overall place:   3,560  (20%)
Women place:  360  (5.5%)
Women 40-49 place:  63  (3%)

Overall Results:

Top Men

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Hailu Negussie ETH 25 2:11:45
2 Wilson Onsare KEN 28 2:12:21
3 Benson Cherono KEN 20 2:12:48

Top Women

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Catherine Nbereba KEN 32 2:25:13
2 Elfenesh Alemu ETH 29 2:27:03
3 Bruna Genovese ITA 28 2:29:51

Top Women 40-49

Place  Name Home Age Time
1 Madina Biktagirova RUS 40 2:32:41
2 Firaya Sultanova RUS 43 2:41:05
3 Simonetta Piergonetili MA 40 2:51:35
63 Malgorzata Mirkowicz TX 45 3:22:04

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Race Map and Elevations: