You can look to Tom Dederian's book for further info, but I believe this story marks the most significant change in Boston's course since they moved the start to Hopkinton many years ago.
I first ran Boston in 1977 and these changes were made in 1986. No matter how you measure it, it is still the same route today as it has been all these many years, with these minor changes, no?
A DULL START FOR BAA'S NEW FINISH
Author: By Neil Singelais, Globe Staff
Date: 04/03/1986 Page: 35
Section: SPORTS
They held a news conference yesterday to announce where the Boston Marathon's new finish line will be located April 21. The details were as exciting as watching paint dry.
In fact, the media gathered at the Copley Plaza Hotel did get to watch paint dry when Francis L. Swift, president of the Boston Athletic Association, and William Bogan, executive vice president of John Hancock, stepped onto Boylston Street and began painting a high yellow line between the old and new
sections of the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street, where the Marathon finish line will be located.
The runners will finish in the shadow of the John Hancock Tower, the headquarters for the Marathon's new corporate sponsor. In order to move the finish line about 300 yards down Boylston Street from its previous location at Prudential Center, the race's starting line in Hopkinton was moved up about 35 yards and an additional 285 yards were gained by closing a loop at Route 135 in Ashland.
The Athletics Congress certified the altered Boston Marathon course in March after it was remeasured and approved by three TAC officials -- John McGrath, David Catz and Gabriel Duguay.
BAA officials Len Luchner and Guy Morse said the changes in the course are so minor, there is no need to declare it a new course for the establishing records.
Morse noted that the race will conclude with a 600-yard straightaway from Hereford Street to the tape "and will be especially advantageous from a spectator's standpoint if there's a close finish." He said that as the runners complete the race, they will be guided through timing chutes where they will be given medals, blankets, water and food. Runners requiring medical attention will be taken to a Copley Square medical tent.
Against a backdrop of Marathon charts and sketches, David D'Alessandro, Hancock senior vice president of corporate communications, spoke in glowing terms about how the new finish area will assume a festive atmosphere with giant balloons and a DiamondVision screen on Dartmouth Street.
"We'll have a grandstand seating area along Boylston Street that will hold about 1,400 people, and bleachers in front of a DiamondVision screen will seat another 450," D'Alessandro said. "They will be occupied by invited guests
from Greater Boston communities. We estimate that during the race, Copley Square will be filled with some 6,000 spectators, race officials, volunteers and media people. There will be only standing room for the public."
Paul Barrett, Mayor Flynn's consultant on Marathon matters, said that the Copley Square area will be secure, "and that for the first time, the Marathon will finish on public property."
D'Alessandro also said that in order for Hancock to provide the US Olympic Committee with the liability insurance it needs in return for the committee's designation of the Boston Marathon as a 1988 Olympic Trial, the Marathon must continue to be held as a single race only on a Monday.
As a climax to the news conference, Flynn was supposed to make a surprise appearance for the benefit of photographers and cross the finish line painted by Swift and Bogan.
Flynn did surprise everyone. He failed to show up. Which only goes to show that His Honor meant it when he said he intends to lower his media profile.
SINGEL;04/02,14:08 NKELLY;04/03,15:54 BAA03