On Monday, April 21, Westerville City Schools Superintendent Dr. John Kellogg will compete in the Boston Marathon. Dr. Kellogg, who has been running since 1974, qualified for Boston when he participated in the Toledo Marathon. He improved his qualifying standing when he ran in the Columbus Marathon in October.
As it has since its inception in 1897, the Boston Marathon will be held on Patriots’ Day, a civic holiday commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Runners will follow the historic 26.2-mile course, which starts on Main Street in rural Hopkinton and finishes on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay.
In cooperation with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the eight cities and towns along the race route, the Boston Athletic Association established the field size for the 2014 Boston Marathon at 36,000 entrants. This is a 33 percent increase from the field size limit of 27,000 entrants used in recent years and is the second-largest field size in Boston Marathon history. The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 had a starting field of 38,708, which stood for more than seven years as the largest in the history of the sport.
Dr. Kellogg said he likes to think about life’s circumstances when he runs, and that it’s a good time to problem solve. This year’s theme is “Boston Strong.”