Run by the same athletic organization that stages the fabled Boston Marathon each April, the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon is a much younger sibling of the full 26.2-mile marathon — just over a dozen years for the B.A.A. half vs. nearly 120 years for the Boston Marathon.
This year will mark the race’s 22nd annual running and it has already become of the nation’s most popular half-marathon events, with more than 5,000 finishers at the race each year over the past few years.
Part of that is due, no doubt, to the course’s route along Boston’s “Emerald Necklace,” the system of linear parks designed by legendary urban architect Frederick Law Olmstead (for whom the first park along the Necklace is named).
Part of the mission of the event is to raise both funds and awareness for the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, which aims to re-establish the parks according to Olmstead’s vision with new landscaping and distinctive waterways and trails for everyone, from walkers and runners to bicyclists.
Proceeds from the race also will go towards the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, which funds and conducts research towards finding treatments and with the goal of finding a cure for many of the major cancer types.
