Athletes Roll is back on Boylston Street for our second Boston Marathon! Continue reading for this year’s preview, check out our coverage of the 2017 race, and follow us on social media for live updates tomorrow!

Hundreds of adaptive athletes will kick off the 26.2 mile race from Hopkinton, MA early tomorrow morning. Handcyclists will finish the Boston Marathon first followed by push-rim wheelchair racers and several heats of runners. The field will feature the fastest marathon runners in the world alongside amateurs running for some of the most worthy causes and adaptive athletes of all forms.

The Boston Marathon is one of the most historic sporting events in the world. Held on Patriots’ Day every year since 1897, it is the oldest annual marathon and one of the biggest events in New England. It attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators who line the streets of Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston (course map). The Boston Marathon became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair athlete in 1975 and now sport full push-rim wheelchair, blind/visually impaired, and mobility impaired divisions. To date more than one thousand athletes have raced in a wheelchair with the adaptive competitions continuing to grow.

The 2017 winners in the push-rim division were Manuela Schar and Marcel Hug who both set course records for women and men with world best times! They’ll be back to defend their titles (Schar’s first, Hug’s third consecutive) although prior winners Tatyana McFadden and Ernst Van Dyk will look to reclaim their historic spots on the podium.

Coverage of the 2018 Boston Marathon will be televised locally on CBS Boston, nationally on NBC Sports Network, and internationally in some markets (full list). We’ll be providing live coverage all day (from roughly mile 26.15) on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. See ya bright and early tomorrow!