When Is The 2021 Boston Marathon

BOSTON — The 2021 Boston Marathon will be run Mon., Oct. 11, the first time in the race's storied history it won't be held in April.

It will be first time in 910 days the famed race will be run. The 2020 Boston Marathon was initially postponed from its traditional Patriots Day date to Sept. 14 due to the still emerging COVID-19 pandemic. The September date proved far too optimistic, and in May the race was canceled for the first time since it started in 1897.

The Boston Marathon is expected to return to Patriots Day runnings beginning in 2022, marathon officials said.

What the October date mean for the runners? In terms of weather, it's tough to tell. The Boston Marathon has been run in 100-degree heat and snow squalls, so if anything the weather could be more reliably comfortable than in mid-April.

Apart from the date change, the pandemic will have its fingerprints on the 125th running of the race.

The Boston Marathon will host 20,000 participants, well below the more than 30,000 that typically show up. It's the fewest runners since 2002.

Runners won't need to wear masks, but they will need to provide a negative COVID-19 test. Boston has an indoor mask mandate.

Marathon officials are also suggesting runners keep "from from kissing a stranger around the halfway mark of the Boston Marathon," a reference to the Wellesley College students known to plant wet ones on runners outside the school.

Patch is covering the Boston Marathon before, during and after the race. Sign up for our free newsletter to get the latest.