Boston Marathon Route

From Hopkinton to Boston's Copley Square

Interested in watching Boston's famous Marathon? If so, you'll need details about the Boston Marathon route plus maps so that you can pick the best vantage spot for enjoying the race.

We'll give you the big picture of the Marathon route, plus a map and a a mile-by-mile description. We'll also tell you about what the runners encounter along the way.

Boston Marathon runners on Commonwealth Avenue (Route 30) in Newton, Massachusetts

All along the route, you'll see bands playing, groups of dancers, people in costumes, balloons, and other spirited cheerers.

"Big Picture" - the Boston Marathon route

The Boston Marathon route covers 26 miles and 385 yards of sometimes hilly, sometimes flat terrain between Hopkinton, Massachusetts and Copley Square in Boston.

The race starts in Hopkinton, located to the west-south-west of Boston, on Route 135. It continues east on Route 135 through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, and Wellesley.

In Wellesley, Route 135 merges into Route 16. The race continues east on Route 16 into the Newton Lower Falls area of Newton, just to the east of Route 128, where it merges right at the firehouse onto Commonwealth Avenue, which is also Route 30.

The race continues on Comm Ave through the Newton Hills. At the Reservoir, it bears right at Chestnut Hill Ave to Beacon Street. Racers stream past Fenway Park into Kenmore Square, veer right onto Commonwealth Ave again, and then follow Comm Ave east toward the city.

At Hereford Street, the Boston Marathon route turns to the right (don't ever try this in your car - normally Hereford is a one way street to the left), and then turns left onto Boylston Street.

The race finishes in Copley Square near the John Hancock Tower.

Mile by mile - Where the race is run

Mile 0: Hopkinton
Elevation: 490 feet
The Boston Marathon route begins in Hopkinton Common, a grassy green space in this once-rural, now-suburban town.

The race route's elevation is at its highest here - 490 feet. Almost immediately, the elevation drops as runners begin the first of several enjoyable downward miles winding through the countryside past open fields and widely-spaced suburban houses.

Mile 1: Hopkinton
Elevation: 360 feet
Pleasant and uneventful.

Mile 2: Ashland
Elevation: 320 feet
Pleasant and uneventful.

Mile 3: Ashland
Elevation: 265 feet
Pleasant and uneventful.

Mile 4: Ashland
Elevation: 180 feet
Runners encounter the first significant upward slope for half a mile as they approach Framingham.

Boston Marathon Route Map

Mile 5 - Framingham
Elevation: 205 feet
Runners leave country behind as they proceed along the Boston Marathon route through Framingham.

Mile 6 - Framingham
Elevation: 180 feet
Development becomes denser, with office buildings, factories, and stores lining the road around the intersection of Route 135 and Route 126.

Mile 7 - Framingham
Elevation: 155 feet
Hard to tell where Framingham ends and Natick begins.

Mile 8 - Natick
Elevation: 180 feet
Stores and more stores line the route.

Mile 9 - Natick
Elevation: 150 feet
And still more stores.

Mile 10 - Natick
Elevation: 170 feet
The road is flat through Natick, where the intersection of Routes 135 and 27 in Natick Center mark the first 10 miles.

Mile 11 - Natick
Elevation: 180 feet
Development thins out, as the runners approach more suburban Wellesley.

Mile 12 - Wellesley
Elevation: 165 feet
The course inclines rather sharply downhill.

Wellesley College, located near Mile 13, cancels classes for the day. Wellesley students begin lining up oon after Mile 12 to create what they call the "Scream Tunnel" - an unbroken wall of sound amplified by loud music to cheer on the runners as they stream past.

Mile 13 - Wellesley
Elevation: 145 feet
Less than 200 yards into Mile 13 is the halfway mark. Runners turn left onto Route 16, and head through affluent streets lined with shops as the Boston Marathon route leads them east from Wellesley Center.

Mile 14 - Wellesley
Elevation: 130 feet
Runners pass the picturesque village houses on the outskirts of Wellesley.

Mile 15 - Wellesley Hills
Elevation: 160 feet
After crossing Route 9 comes the sharpest descent of the race in a half-mile stretch into Newton Lower Falls.

Mile 16 - Newton Lower Falls
Elevation: 60 feet
Past Route 128, the course rises for three quarters of a mile.

Mile 17 - Newton
Elevation: 115 feet
Runners turn right onto Commonwealth Avenue (Route 30). Newton's four difficult hills lie ahead.

Mile 18 - West Newton
Elevation: 145 feet
The first hill is a steep incline just past the Brae Burn Country Club.

Mile 19 - Newton
Elevation: 130 feet
Runners encounter Newton's second hill . . .

Mile 20 - Newton
Elevation: 150 feet
. . . and the third hill.

Mile 21 - Newton / Chestnut Hill
Elevation: 230 feet
Heartbreak Hill, Newton's fourth hill along this stretch of Comm Ave, comes just after the shops near Centre Street and takes the runners up an almost a half-mile rise to Hammond Street. If you look at it as an observer, you hardly even think about it being a hill. But to the runners, after 21 miles, it comes just as their stamina is at an ebb.

Mile 22 - Boston / Brighton
Elevation: 150 feet
Prudential Tower comes into view! Crowds line Cleveland Circle.

Mile 23 - Brookline
Elevation: 95 feet
Crowds grow thicker.

Mile 24 - Brookline
Elevation: 60 feet
Boston University students line both sides of Commonwealth Ave, cheering almost as loudly as the Wellesley students.

Mile 25 - Boston / Back Bay
Elevation: 15 feet
Runners go through Kenmore Square. From Kenmore Square, they run along Commonwealth Ave for a couple of blocks in the Fenway neighborhood and then a couple of block in Back Bay until they reach Hereford Street, where they turn right.

Every year, the Boston Red Sox play a home game on Marathon Day that normally starts at 11:05. As soon as the game is over, the crowd surges out of nearby Fenway Park and pours into Kenmore Square, loudly cheering on the runners as they strive to complete the final mile.

Mile 26 - Boston / Back Bay
Elevation: 10 feet
Runners pass the big stores along Boylston Street.

Mile 26 + 385 yards - Copley Square
Elevation: 10 feet
Finished!

Hotels with Best Boston Marathon Views


Buckminster Hotel	Hotel Commonwealth	Lenox Hotel	Charlesmark Hotel

More Boston Marathon Hotels

Insider Tips about the Boston Marathon Route

Crowds are biggest the closer you get to Copley Square - so for less congested viewing, pick a spot in a location along the way, such as Newton.
Do not drive into the city! Streets start being blocked off in some areas between Kenmore Square and Copley Square on the day before the race.