Why 2 Military Vets Will Run Only Newton's Stretch Of Boston Race

NEWTON, MA — This year, two retired military veterans with strong connections to Newton will be running the Newton stretch of the Boston Marathon in symbolic homage to a powerful moment that took place 100 years ago and as a nod to their own connections to the city and to the race.

Army veteran Laura Piscopo, who graduated from Newton North will run with a military relay team in the 2018 Boston Marathon with her grandfather's dog tags. By her side will be Newton native Steve Wightman a Vietnam veteran who had planned to run the marathon with his brother but when his number came up in the draft his plans to run was dashed.

The two are running as part of a military relay that was added this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the year World War I almost interrupted the Boston tradition. Sixteen veterans and active duty personnel will pass a baton along the course. They will be wearing the bright orange Adidas gear donated by the shoe company and many, like Piscopo, will be wearing hats that bear the military branch. The bib numbers for all the will all be the same: 1918.

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From the time it was first run in 1897 on Patriots Day to commemorate the start of the Revolutionary War, until today the Boston Marathon has become the world’s oldest consecutively run race. And it's considered one of the most prestigious of 26.2-mile races.

But in 1918, with WWI in full force there was concern that the race might not be able to go on. Instead, the BAA staged a 10-person relay made up of military men. That race was still competitive, according to BAA, and a group from Camp Devens in Harvard Massachusetts won. But it also kept the tradition and the annual race alive.

This year, in symbolic honor of that persistence that is so synonymous with the race itself, 16 active and retired members of the military will run the course in pairs, two with connections to each city and town along the route, and passing a baton as nearly 30,000 runners make their way from Hopkinton to Boston.

The relay runners will represent five branches of the service and all eight cities and towns along the course.

“As the nation deepened its involvement in World War I, and as resources here at home were spread thin and priorities were rearranged, the people of Boston still believed that the tradition of the marathon should be preserved as a unifying event for the country and the region,” Tom Grilk of the Boston Athletic Association told the Associated Press. “As it is today.”

Grilk told those who gathered Thursday evening for a welcome reception that the theme for this year's marathon, the fifth anniversary of the 2013 marathon bombings was "service."

He noted there were many aspects to that theme from those who stepped up near the finish line to help others to those serving their communities to those serving their country.

The relay will begin at 9:40 a.m., just after the women’s elite starts.

Christopher Hampton, a Marine from Natick, will be passing the baton to his older brother, Benjamin, a fellow Marine and fellow Natick firefighter. That Hampton brother will pass it to Piscopo and Witghtman who will run their 5k stretch until they pass it to the Brookline duo.

Piscopo said running the Newton stretch brings back memories of stories her father told her about watching the Marathon from Heart Break Hill when he was a boy. Piscopo said after she came back serving in the military an Army friend came out to stay with her family in Newton and she remembers cheering him on on Heart Break Hill.

"It's been such a big part of my life. I love running and being with the running community," she said. And she'll be keeping her grandfather close to her heart all the way.

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Photo of the Vets (to the right of Mayor Ruthanne Fuller) courtesy, Piscopo.