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The Boston Marathon and Mayor Michelle Wu reaffirmed that international runners and other foreign visitors remain welcome in the city, emphasising that there is no evidence of a decline in travel for this year’s race despite heightened scrutiny at the nation’s borders.“Regardless of what’s happening at other levels, and particularly now at the federal level, in Boston we welcome everyone,” Wu stated during a public safety media briefing held Friday near the iconic finish line. “We seek to be a home for everyone.
”A beloved tradition for both participants and spectators, the Boston Marathon is held annually on Patriots’ Day, a Massachusetts state holiday that commemorates the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord, which occurred 250 years ago. The race, widely recognised as the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon, has only grown in significance and popularity since the 2013 bombing, when two pressure-cooker devices detonated near the finish line, resulting in three fatalities and injuring hundreds.At the same briefing, Allen Davis, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, reported that there were “no credible or specific threats” to this year’s race, scheduled for Monday.
This year’s event boasts over 30,000 participants from 128 countries. Jack Fleming, President of the Boston Athletic Association, confirmed that the 129th running of the marathon is at full capacity, thousands more were turned away, and said there is no indication that any of the registered entrants have withdrawn.Also Read: The runner Mumbai can rely on"We have a lot of demand this year, as we do every year," he said.
But as US officials track plummeting tourism numbers, with many would-be visitors angered by President Donald Trumps` tariffs and rhetoric and alarmed by stories about tourists being arrested at the border, reports say at least some potential marathon attendees have decided to skip the race. Canadians have been especially put off by Trump`s talk of making the country the 51st US state.British runner Calli Hauger-Thackery, a 2024 Olympian who is entered in the women`s professional field, said she has never experienced a problem coming to the US but she worries now that that might change.
"It does scare me travelling a little bit, at the moment," she said, adding that she is married to an American and has a visa."I hope it`s enough for them to not flag me or anything coming in and out of the States."Most of the 31,941 entrants in Monday`s race were required to qualify at another marathon, and many of them view running Boston as a lifelong athletic goal.
Still, about 10 percent of the field typically does not toe the starting line in Hopkinton for reasons that range from injuries to weather to the 2010 eruption of a volcano in Iceland that halted flights and prevented hundreds of Europeans from traveling to Boston. In last year`s field of 29,333 entrants, there were 2,838 who failed to start.(With inputs from AP).
