Patriots' Day marks the run of the Boston Marathon. Every year so many Bostonians
know the holiday as "Marathon Monday" .
Every year since 195, the Boston Red Sox have traditionally been scheduled
to play at home in Fenway Park on Patriots' Day9. They were postponed due to
bad weather in 1959, 1961, 1965, 1967, and 1984 and did not play in 1995 during
the players' strike. Since 1968 the games have started early in the morning
around 11:00 AM. In 2007, the game had a scheduled start of 10:05 AM, but was
delayed due to rain until 12:18 PM.
The early start to these games usually resulted in the game ending just as
the marathon is heading through Kenmore Square. However, since 2007 the marathon
has started between 9:30 AM and 10:00 AM, resulting in the racers going through
Kenmore towards the middle of the Red Sox game.
The holiday creates a three-day weekend and is thus a popular time for Boston
residents to leave town on short vacations. Some are fleeing the increased tourism
traffic caused by two other popular Boston events that occur that Monday. The
Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon, is run each year on Patriots'
Day. Participants and spectators flock to Boston from around the world for the
26.2-mile race, which has been held every year since 1897, with the exception
of the 1918 race, which was cancelled because of World War I.
Until 1968 the Boston Marathon was held on April 19 to coincide with Patriots'
Day, but when the holiday moved to the third Monday in April, so did the race.
In addition to the Boston Marathon, the Boston Red Sox usually play a Patriots'
Day game at Fenway Park.
