Boston Marathon Trivia
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59 free Boston Marathon trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Boston Marathon trivia quiz runs the whole course, from the 1897 race inspired by the Athens Olympics to the champions of the 2020s. The easy questions are ones any spectator on Marathon Monday could answer: the town where it starts, the street where it ends, the holiday it is run on, the hill near Boston College, and the college whose students form the Scream Tunnel. The harder end is for runners and race historians: the olive wreath that was once the only prize, why Bobbi Gibb had to run unregistered, the bib number Jock Semple tried to tear off Kathrine Switzer, how Rosie Ruiz was caught, why Geoffrey Mutai's 2:03:02 never counted as a world record, the astronaut who ran the race in orbit, the year the marathon became a military relay, the qualifying time for the 2026 race, and the wheelchair racer with ten titles. Clarence DeMar, Johnny Kelley, Tarzan Brown, Bill Rodgers, Uta Pippig, Meb Keflezighi and Des Linden get questions too. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries for the race, its organisers and its winners before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, try our marathon, New York City Marathon and Boston quizzes next.
30 of 59 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which town does the Boston Marathon start?
Hopkinton
Hopkinton, about 26 miles west of the city, has hosted the start since 1924, when the course was lengthened and the starting line moved from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland.
Q 02Where in Boston is the finish line?
Boylston Street
Boylston Street in the Back Bay hosts the finish line; runners reach it through the famous 'right on Hereford, left on Boylston' turns that close the course.
Q 03On which holiday is the Boston Marathon traditionally held?
Patriots' Day
Patriots' Day, the Massachusetts holiday marking the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord, has been observed on the third Monday of April since 1969, and the race is run that day, known locally as Marathon Monday.
Q 04In which year was the first Boston Marathon run?
1897
1897 saw the first running on 19 April, organised by the Boston Athletic Association with a field of 15 starters on a course from Ashland into the city.
Q 05Which event inspired the founding of the Boston race?
The 1896 Athens Olympics marathon
The 1896 Athens Olympics marathon, won by Spyridon Louis, so impressed B.A.A. team manager John Graham that the association, itself founded in 1887, organised its own marathon.
Q 06What distinction does Boston hold among the world's big road races?
Oldest annual marathon
Oldest annual marathon is Boston's distinction: it has been staged in some form every year since its founding, through both world wars and the Depression, with only a virtual edition in 2020.
Q 07Who won the first Boston Marathon, leading a field of just 15 runners?
John J. McDermott
John J. McDermott of New York won the inaugural race; he had also won the first marathon held on American soil, from Stamford to New York, the previous autumn.
Q 08How long was the original 1897 course from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland?
24.5 miles
24.5 miles was the original distance from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland to Boston; the course was lengthened in 1924 to the 26 miles 385 yards the 1908 Olympics had established.
Q 09In which year did the Boston Marathon award its first cash prize?
1986
1986 was the first year with prize money, after John Hancock Financial became sponsor; Rob de Castella and Ingrid Kristiansen each took home a cash award and a Mercedes-Benz.
Q 10How many cities and towns does the course pass through?
Eight
Eight cities and towns host the course, which starts in a small Middlesex County town and reaches Boston only for its final stretch after passing through Newton and Brookline.
Q 11Near which school does Heartbreak Hill crest?
Boston College
Boston College's campus at Chestnut Hill sits at the crest of Heartbreak Hill, the last of the Newton hills, which runners reach just after mile 20 on Commonwealth Avenue.
Q 12How much does Heartbreak Hill actually rise vertically?
88 feet
88 feet of vertical gain over about 0.4 miles is all Heartbreak Hill offers; its reputation comes from timing, arriving around mile 20 when runners' glycogen stores are most depleted.
Q 13Whose heart was broken on the hill in 1936 after he patted a rival on the shoulder?
John A. Kelley
John A. Kelley, the 1935 champion, patted Ellison 'Tarzan' Brown on the shoulder as he passed him on the Newton hills; Brown rallied and won, and sportswriter Jerry Nason coined the name Heartbreak Hill.
Q 21Who was declared the 1980 women's winner after the impostor was disqualified?
Jacqueline Gareau
Jacqueline Gareau of Quebec was confirmed as the 1980 champion about a week after the race; her 2:34:28 stood as a course record at the time.
Q 22Where had the 1980 impostor reportedly been spotted during her qualifying New York City Marathon?
On the subway
On the subway: freelance photographer Susan Morrow said she met the impostor riding the train during the 1979 New York City Marathon and walked with her to the finish area, where she was then recorded as a finisher.
Q 23How many Boston Marathons did Clarence DeMar win?
Seven
Seven victories, from 1911 to 1930, made Clarence DeMar the race's most prolific champion; he also took bronze in the marathon at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Q 14Whose students form the Scream Tunnel about half a mile before halfway?
Wellesley
Wellesley College students line the course near mile 12.5, just before the halfway mark, in a tradition more than a century old; runners say the Scream Tunnel can be heard a mile away.
Q 15Which woman ran the entire 1966 race unregistered after the director refused her entry?
Bobbi Gibb
Bobbi Gibb hid in the bushes near the start and ran the whole 1966 race in about 3:21 after director Will Cloney had told her women were physiologically incapable of running 26 miles.
Q 16Which official tried to rip Kathrine Switzer's number off during the 1967 race?
Jock Semple
Jock Semple, the B.A.A.'s race co-director, lunged at Switzer early in the race shouting for her to get out before her boyfriend shouldered him away; the two later became friends.
Q 17What bib number did Kathrine Switzer wear in 1967, later the name of her non-profit?
261
261 was the number on the bib Switzer entered for as 'K. V. Switzer'; photographs of an official grabbing at it made the number famous, and she later named her 261 Fearless foundation after it.
Q 18In which year were women first officially allowed to enter the Boston Marathon?
1972
1972 was the first year the B.A.A. accepted women's entries, after the Amateur Athletic Union dropped its ban on women racing long distances; every woman who started that year finished.
Q 19Who was the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon?
Nina Kuscsik
Nina Kuscsik won the first official women's race in 3:10:26, having lobbied the Amateur Athletic Union to lift its distance limit on women's racing.
Q 20Which impostor crossed the 1980 finish line first in the women's race and was disqualified?
Rosie Ruiz
Rosie Ruiz crossed the line in an apparent 2:31:56 but had jumped into the race about half a mile from the finish; she was stripped of the title within days.
Q 24How many Boston Marathons did Kelley the Elder, winner in 1935 and 1945, compete in?
61
61 starts between 1928 and 1992 made Kelley the Elder the race's great fixture; he finished 58 of them, won twice and ran the Olympic marathon in 1936 and 1948.
Q 25Two-time winner Ellison Tarzan Brown descended from the royal family of which tribe?
Narragansett
Narragansett royalty was his lineage: Ellison 'Tarzan' Brown of Rhode Island won in 1936 and 1939 and ran the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Q 26How many times did Bill Rodgers win the Boston Marathon?
Four
Four Boston wins came in 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1980 for Bill Rodgers, who also won New York four straight times from 1976 to 1979.
Q 27Which 1968 winner, then a Wesleyan student, later edited Runner's World?
Amby Burfoot
Amby Burfoot won in 1968 while a Wesleyan senior, rooming with a young Bill Rodgers, and went on to edit Runner's World for decades.
Q 28Which Maine runner won Boston in 1979 as a relative unknown, then took Olympic gold in 1984?
Joan Benoit
Joan Benoit, a Bowdoin College senior from Cape Elizabeth, won in 2:35:15 in 1979, then set a world best in 1983 and took the first Olympic women's marathon gold in Los Angeles in 1984.
Q 29Which German woman won Boston in 1994, 1995 and 1996?
Uta Pippig
Uta Pippig, running for Germany after leaving East Berlin in 1990, won in 1994, 1995 and 1996; her 2:21:45 in 1994 was then the third-fastest women's marathon ever.
Q 30Which Kenyan won Boston four times, including 2003 and 2006–2008?
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won in 2003 and then 2006, 2007 and 2008; his 2:07:14 in 2006 beat Cosmas Ndeti's 12-year-old course record by a single second.