A sun-soaked Boston Marathon was a boon for spectators — and a challenge for runners - The Boston Globe (2024)

But the weather took a toll on some runners, who generally prefer it cooler and less sun-soaked — and who, largely, train in the chillier months of winter and early spring. By 6 p.m., 77 runners had been taken to area hospitals for treatment, race officials said. It wasn’t clear how many were treated for heat.

“It was definitely tough after 15 miles,” said Carly Sedlock, a 35-year-old from Pennsylvania, as she enjoyed a post-race cup of ice cream from JP Licks. “Just slowed down a lot.”

Meanwhile, for her partner Jeremy Taylor, who watched most of the race from Wellesley Square, the sunshine was perfect. ”Great weather for spectating,” he said. “No complaints here.”

With the forecast in their favor, the joyous fans along the route certainly put all their good fortune to good use, happily joining the cause of cheering for, yelling at, fist-bumping, kissing, and, in all other ways imaginable, urging the 30,000 runners toward the finish line as the Marathon celebrated its 128th year.

Temperatures this year, of course, paled in comparison to some past Marathons. Few will forget the 89-degree race in 2012. A 100-degree day in 1905 still holds the record.

For their part, Ethiopian Sisay Lemma and Kenyan Hellen Obiri thrived in the conditions, leading the men’s and women’s elite runners. And the warm spring afternoon saw its fastest finish ever for men’s wheelchair competitor Marcel Hug, who set a course record of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds, which was 90 seconds faster than last year. Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain won the women’s wheelchair division, with a time of 1:35.

On the outskirts of a crowd that pressed a half-dozen deep against the finish line barricades on Boylston Street, 8-year-old Emilia Hatch sat on Adam Wulkan’s shoulders watching the race, her second-ever Marathon.

The weather did not seem to affect her experience one way or the other. Asked which race she’d enjoyed more — this one or last year’s — she said they were the “same.”

“It was pouring last year!” Wulkan reminded her. “Remember that?”

“But it was fun!” she said.

At their feet sat their two-year-old golden retriever, Madaket, who a day earlier joined a sea of hundreds of dogs of that breed that gathered for a “Golden Strong” event on Boston Common. The cuddly swarm had assembled to raise funds and awareness for canine cancer and to remember Spencer, a dog that greeted runners along the route for years and which died last February.

“That was great,” Wulkan recalled. “I mean, what’s better than hundreds of golden retrievers in one place?”

It was also — there is no dispute — a picture-perfect day for baseball and the Red Sox’ traditional 11:10 a.m. start at Fenway Park, even if fans would have preferred a better showing; the team fell, 6-0, to the Cleveland Guardians.

A highlight for otherwise disappointed fans might have been a visit from a special guest: Patriots hero Rob Gronkowski, who was the Marathon’s official Grand Marshal this year, and threw the first pitch.

Or at least, that’s what he was asked to do. When he took the mound, he, in classic Gronk fashion, spiked it into the dirt. The crowd roared. Earlier, he’d spiked a football at the finish line on Boylston Street, too.

“Best day ever,” he told reporters.

The race happened to fall on One Boston Day, held each year on April 15, during which people are asked to do acts of kindness to honor the victims of the 2013 Marathon bombings. On Monday, Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston joined family members in a ceremony, laying wreaths at the sites of memorials installed near the finish line.

Returning to the race this year was Henry Richard, who made a fifth appearance in honor of his brother, Martin, who was 8 when he was among three people killed by the terrorists’ bombs. The attacks injured 260.

Throughout his run, Henry Richard said seeing the many people that he has met in the years since the tragedy, and through his work with the Martin Richard Foundation, along the route helped spur him over the finish line.

”It’s incredible to see people that I’ve met along the way over the past 10 years and they can’t catch me walking,” he said. “Once I make eye contact with them, that’s what keeps me going forward.”

It was a year for traditions solemn and serious, but also . . . not.

Matt Charlton, of Allston, showed up to the route dressed in a full-body Narragansett tallboy costume. He said he’d been handing out beers for four or five years.

Charlton doesn’t work for the Rhode Island brewery, he said. “I just do this.”

Every year, there are always takers, he said.

Elsewhere on the route were a family clad in the orange-and-pink “DunKings” jumpsuits worn by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the duo’s latest Super Bowl commercial — an unexpected show of support from family members of Utahn runner Joe Dallimore.

“It was a surprise at mile 17, and he burst out laughing,” said his sister, Elise Dallimore.

“I’ve really been enjoying the contrast,” said Jack Hall of Brookline, who watched the race clad in a Hawaiian shirt, “between the people who are running for their families and everyone who has died of cancer, and right next to them the guy dressed as a leprechaun, drinking beer.”

By the latter part of the race in the late afternoon, as a chill crept into the air, race director Dave McGillivray, 69, was among the masses crossing the finish line. It was his first time running the race with everyone else; since 1987 he has held off until everyone else is through.

“The heat got to me, for sure,” he said. “But then we got some cloud cover, and that helped a lot, and we had a tail wind.”

Even with 52 appearances to his name, McGillivray still chases the self-satisfaction he sees when runners complete the iconic course. He had plenty of motivation to finish strong, running alongside his daughter, Elle, and son, Max. And he did, crossing the finish line just before 4 p.m.

“There’s nothing more powerful in the world than feeling good about yourself,” he said. “That’s the foundation by which we accomplish everything in our lives, and it’s the same thing with me.”

Marianne Mizera and Christopher Huffaker of the Globe staff, plus correspondents Ethan Fuller, Maddie Khaw, Daniel Kool, and Cam Kerry, contributed to this report.

Spencer Buell can be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com. Follow him @SpencerBuell.