Boston Marathon: Hundred Years of Blood, Sweat, and Cheers

This book is a great coffee table book of all of the little stories that make up the rich history of the Boston Marathon. Each story is two paragraphs and covers famous runners, locations and aspects of the race. I had heard one of the stories here and another there, but this books does an excellent job of compiling all of them into one book. Its strength is its easy reading. It also features list of neat facts - winners, how many medical supplies, gallons of fluids, etc. go into this race. Its only weakness is that it is only and introduction and will not delve into some of the stories that could have much more detail. It is a must read for anyone looking to get an understanding of the history of this century-old race.

Each year the Boston Marathon, held on Patriot's Day relives the rich history of this race which is captured in this book. The history of the race and different personalities from each of the communities unfolds as you read each chapter from Hopkinton to Boston. The Boston Marathon is unique in American tradition.