For Boston Marathon's last 100 years, it all starts in Hopkinton

HOPKINTON, Mass. (AP) — Workers zip in and out of the tents that dot the Hopkinton Town Common, flags flutter from the gazebo, and crews assemble the platform where the starter will fire the gun to send the Boston Marathon field on its way. On race day, this otherwise sleepy New England town serendipitously located 26.2 miles from Boston will swell to three times its size.

Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon.

“It wouldn’t be the Boston Marathon without Hopkinton," said Meb Keflezighi, who was conferred with honorary town citizenship after winning the race in 2014, the year after the finish line bombing. "As the sign says, ‘It all starts here.’"

Although the Boston Marathon was born next door in Ashland, where 15 men toed a line near Metcalf's Mill in 1897, the start was moved to Hopkinton in 1924 to conform with a new international distance standard. With a field for the 100th anniversary that will top 30,000 runners, the town strains to absorb the crowds and yet still maintains its small-town hospitality year-round.

“The regulars invite people into their home — ‘Hey, use our bathroom. Have some snacks," 2018 winner Des Linden said. “It has a family feel when it comes to the race.”

The idea of a marathon race was born from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger who ran to Athens to deliver news of the victory over the invading Persians in the Battle of Marathon.

“Rejoice, we conquer,” he is said to have announced.

And then he dropped dead.

The Greeks recreated his journey in a race that proved to be the signature event of the inaugural modern Olympics when it was held in Athens in 1896. A traveling party from the Boston Athletic Association was so taken with the spectacle that they created a copycat race back home the following year.

A small park in Ashland marks the spot between Pleasant Street and the Sudbury River where 15 men lined up in 1897 for the first Boston race, then known as the American Marathon. John J. McDermott was the first to cross the finish line at the Irvington Oval near Copley Square, 24.5 miles away.

At the time, there was no standard marathon distance. That changed after the 1908 London Games, when the start was moved to Windsor Castle, 26 miles away from the Olympic stadium, reportedly at the request of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria. Organizers added 385 yards to the end, so the runners could do a lap on the track and finish in front of the royal box.

Informational plaques in Ashland's Marathon Park tell the story of the race's first 27 years. A granite boulder marks the original starting line.

Although there were six different marathon distances in the first seven Olympics, for the 1924 Games in Paris, the course was set at the 26 mile, 385 yard distance (42.195 km). To accommodate the new standard, the BAA moved its start to Hopkinton, one town west.

Although the start and finish lines have moved around a few blocks since then, the sign welcoming visitors to Hopkinton remains true: “It all starts here.”

Starting the race in a small town of about 17,000 has posed challenges for race organizers, especially as the field ballooned from 147 in 1924 to more than 30,000 in recent years. To fit everyone on streets originally laid in 18th Century colonial New England, organizers cut the field into waves and send them off one at a time.

Linden said she went out to Hopkinton for a training run on a non-race day and wondered if she’d gotten lost.

“It’s a totally different scene,” she said. “It looks insanely different.”

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FILE - Painter Will Belezos, of Holbrook, Mass., left, uses a stencil, Wednesday, Oct 6, 2021, while working to complete the start line for the 125th edition of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton, Mass. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - Boston Marathon patriarch Johnny Kelley's face is painted on the Boston Marathon starting line in Hopkinton, Mass., Thursday, April 14, 2005. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)

FILE - Runners cross the start line of the 123rd Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2019, in Hopkinton, Mass. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Stew Milne, File)

FILE - An seal honoring 50 years of women running in the Boston Marathon covers the street in front of the start line of the 120th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18, 2016, in Hopkinton, Mass. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

FILE - Runners begin their dash from Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston on April 19, 1976 in the 80th annual Boston Marathon Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Runners pick up water in the athlete's village in Hopkinton, Mass. before the start of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 19, 2004. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Joe Giblin, File)

FILE - Runners rest up in the Hopkinton, Mass., Athletes' Village, Monday, April 17, 2006, before the start of the 110th Boston Marathon. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye, File)

FILE - The 110th Boston Marathon elite runners lead the race, Monday, April 17, 2006, after crossing the start line in Hopkinton, Mass. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye, File)

FILE - Runners cross the starting line during the 127th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Hopkinton, Mass. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

FILE - Jonathon Hawkins, left, and Beth Millian, right, both from Austin, Texas, pose for a photo by the Boston Marathon start sign prior to the 115th running of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton, Mass., Monday, April 18, 2011. Once a year for the last 100 years, Hopkinton becomes the center of the running world, thanks to a quirk of geography and history that made it the starting line for the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. (AP Photo/Stew Milne, File)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The cheers were endless Saturday in the PGA Championship, and when another record day of scoring finally ended at vulnerable Valhalla, so were the possibilities.

Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa were tied for the lead. Shane Lowry thrust his way into the mix with a 62 to tie a major championship record last set just two days earlier. Bryson DeChambeau chipped in for eagle on the last hole to set off a wild celebration.

And all Scottie Scheffler could do during all this chaos — at least it was inside the ropes this time — was listen to them.

Scheffler's remarkable streak of 42 consecutive rounds at par or better finally ended in the second-lowest scoring average for a Saturday at the PGA Championship. He faded early, never quite recovered and shot 73 to finish eight shots back with 23 players ahead of him.

“Too many mistakes,” Scheffler told CBS. He declined to speak to reporters. “I came out here hoping to have a good round and didn’t get it done.”

Schauffele, who opened the week with a 62 that felt easy, labored to stay in front and was two shots ahead until a 9-iron came out hot and sailed over the green at the 15th. With water on the other side of the green, he was careful with a chip out of shin-high grass and moved it 10 feet. He chipped on and two-putted for a double bogey, only his second hole over par this week.

Schauffele bounced back with two closing birdies for a 3-under 68.

Morikawa briefly took the lead with a 6-foot birdie putt that went 360 degrees around the cup before dropping on the 15th, and he holed a 10-foot birdie on the 18th for a 67 to tie Schauffele. They were at 15-under 198 with plenty of company.

Sahith Theegala birdied six of his last 10 holes for a 68 and was one shot behind. Another shot back was the trio of Lowry, DeChambeau (67) and Viktor Hovland (66) — a British Open champion, U.S. Open champion and FedEx Cup champion.

And it didn't stop there. Fifteen players were separated by five shots.

“There are a ton of guys who can do it tomorrow,” Morikawa said.

The shocker was Scheffler not being among them.

Scheffler was coming off the most heart-racing day of his career that featured an arrest for not following police orders, brief jail time and a 66 to get into contention for a second straight major. But he was never a factor after an early stretch of double bogey-bogey-bogey.

“I definitely did not feel like myself today,” he said. “Yesterday happened, I did my best to recover from it and come out and compete. This morning was not my usual routine for a round. At the end of the day, I came out hoping to have a good round but I wasn’t able to get it done, which was frustrating.”

Even at the home of the Kentucky Derby, this final round could be tough to handicap.

Lowry's magnificent performance — he made 161 feet worth of putts — ended with a wedge to just inside 12 feet and a clear shot at 61, only to not give the putt enough pace.

“Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62,” Lowry said. “Look, I went out there with a job to do today, and my job was to try to get myself back in the tournament. And I definitely did that.”

DeChambeau had only three birdies and didn't get much out of his round until he chipped in for his eagle, a moment so loud it was hard to tell if he or the thousands of fans were more excited. He said he hasn't felt that kind of energy since his 58 to win LIV Golf Greenbrier last year.

“Exhilarating,” he said. “That was pretty exciting there. I was pretty pumped. I’ve got a good chance. I’m not executing to the level that I know I can, but playing well enough to give myself a chance, obviously.”

Justin Rose (64) was three shots back. The group five behind at 10-under 203 included Justin Thomas, the Louisville native who felt chills on a steamy day of sunshine when he hacked out of the weeds, down to the green and into the cup on the par-3 14th for a most unlikely birdie. He shot 67.

That's 15 players at 10 under or better, the most through 54 holes in major championship history. The previous record was seven players, most recently at St. Andrews in 2022.

The scoring average for the third round was 69.55, a fraction behind the record for the PGA Championship set at Bellerive in 2018.

This was the day to go low just to stay in the hunt. Scheffler, using fill-in caddie with regular looper Ted Scott attending his daughter's high school graduation in Louisiana, was in trouble from the start — a double bogey on No. 2 from mangled rough, a tee shot into a hazard left of the reachable par-4 fourth hole.

He was 4 over through four holes, and on three occasions he followed a birdie with a bogey. It was his highest score since a 73 in the third round of the Tour Championship last August.

Now the focus turns to Schauffele, the Olympic gold medalist from the Tokyo Games in 2021 who is trying to bag a silver prize — the heavy Wanamaker Trophy — for his first major. Schauffele has been leading or tied in six of his last seven rounds.

The exception was losing a 54-hole lead last week to Rory McIlroy's closing 65 at Quail Hollow.

“I just need to stay in my lane, and hopefully it's enough,” Schauffele said.

Morikawa already had two majors at age 24 and is slowly working his way back to that smooth, repeatable swing. He had one early wobble missing a 4-foot par putt on the second hole, and that was really his only big mistake.

There was no shortage of candidates to claim the second major of the year. It was crowded at the top, just like it was at Harding Park in 2020, when a dozen players were separated by three shots going into the final round. Morikawa emerged with his first major.

“Look, I’ve played against all these guys. It’s not like any of these guys are new,” Morikawa said. “They all have their accolades within themselves, and really anyone can go low.”

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Xander Schauffele hits from the fairway on the 17th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Sahith Theegala waves after making a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Sahith Theegala reacts to his shot from the fairway on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after a eagle on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after a eagle on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Shane Lowry, of Ireland, celebrates after a birdie on the 13th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Justin Rose, of England, greets Shane Lowry, of Ireland, after the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Scottie Scheffler reacts to his chip to the green on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Scottie Scheffler waits to play on the second hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Collin Morikawa hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Collin Morikawa waves after making a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Xander Schauffele watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)