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1970 Boston Marathon

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1970 Boston Marathon
VenueBoston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DateApril 20, 1970
Champions
MenRon Hill (2:10:30)
WomenSara Mae Berman (3:05:07)
← 1969
1971 →

The 1970 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 20, 1970. It was the 74th time the Boston Marathon was organized, and featured 1,174 official entrants.[1] This was the first edition of the race to have a qualifying standard, as the entry form stipulated "A runner must submit the certification...that he has trained sufficiently to finish the course in less than four hours."[2]

The race was won by Ron Hill of England in 2:10:30.[3] Women were not officially allowed to enter until 1972, but their first-place results from 1966 through 1971 were later ratified by the Boston Athletic Association. Hill shattered the course record, set by Yoshiaki Unetani the prior year, by more than three minutes.[4] Eamon O'Reilly of the United States finished second, just 42 seconds behind, in 2:11:12, the second-fastest time ever recorded for the event.[4] Hill and O'Reilly were the first two runners in the event's history to break 2 hours 12 minutes. Hill became the first runner in Boston Marathon history to average below five minutes per mile (4:58.6/per mile). His course record was broken five years later by Bill Rodgers who ran 2:09:55 in the 1975 edition.

Results

[edit]
Ron Hill in 1975

Men

[edit]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1 Ron Hill  England 2:10:30
2 Eamon O'Reilly  United States 2:11:12
3 Patrick McMahon  Ireland 2:14:53
4 Pentti Rummakko  Finland 2:14:59
5 Kalle Hakkarainen  Finland 2:19:42
6 Ken Moore  United States 2:19:47
7 Robert Moore  Canada 2:20:07
8 Andy Boychuk  Canada 2:21:06
9 Bill Clark  United States 2:22:17
10 Wayne Yetman  Canada 2:22:32

Source:[5]

Other notable participants included: Amby Burfoot (16th), José García (20th), John J. Kelley (63rd), John A. Kelley (163rd)[5]

Women

[edit]
Position Athlete Nationality Time
1 Sara Mae Berman  United States 3:05:07
2 Nina Kuscsik  United States 3:12:16
3 Sandra Zerrangi  United States 3:30:00
4 Diane Fournier  United States 3:32:00
5 Kathrine Switzer  United States 3:34:00

Source:[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "(untitled)". Holyoke Transcript-Telegram. Holyoke, Massachusetts. AP. April 18, 1970. p. 12. Retrieved April 17, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "History of the Boston Marathon". BAA.org. Boston Athletic Association. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "A Goodbye from Cool Running!". 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Craig, Jack (April 20, 1970). "Hill Wins B.A.A. Marathon". The Boston Globe. p. 1. Retrieved April 17, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "1970 results". bostonlog.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.