Participants run the 126th Boston Marathon

courtesy @jgault13 on Twitter sponsors, municipal officials and local running clubs.

In addition to the 30,000 runners, the race usually attracts around 50,000 spectators as well. This number greatly increases later on in the race when the Red Sox game ends. It’s been a tradition for the Boston Red Sox to play a day-game that starts before the Marathon, so when the game ends, baseball fans flood out into the streets to cheer on the marathoners as they finish the route. These traditions were put on pause in 2020 and

On Monday, April 18, runners from across the world congregated in Boston, Massachusetts to participate in the 126th Boston Marathon. Kenyan runners Evan Chebet and Peres Jepchirchir placed first in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon race. It began in 1897 after the new marathon event in the 1896 Summer Olympics found great success and support. From then on, the Boston Marathon has been a major event every year.

Unlike most marathons, participants have to run a qualifying race in order to compete in Boston. Qualifying times differ depending on age groups, and one must be over 18 to compete. For runners between the ages of 18 and 34, men must run 3:00.00, and women 3:30.00 at a registered marathon the year prior to the Boston Marathon. The average 30,000 registered participants haven’t all been subject to the qualifying times though, as there are also runners who can enter with partners. One-fifth of the marathon’s spots are held for charities, postponed in 2021, but finally were able to return to normal in 2022.

Chebet ended the race with a 2:06.51 time, coming in a whole 15 seconds before the second-place runner, as he gained distance on the final downhill stretch. The main difference with the Boston Marathon and other marathons participants might have run prior are the great hills throughout the city. Runners must keep up a solid pace, but still preserve energy to make the steep climbs, even in the 25th mile.

Jepchirchir has had a major few years, winning gold at her debut Olympics in Tokyo and coming in first at the 2021 New York Marathon, Jepchirchir now has another medal to add to her collection. Jepchirchir took home a major win this year in Boston, and in 2:21.01, became the third-fastest time in event history. At 28 years old she is the first athlete to win the Olympic marathon, the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon. She has also broken three halfmarathon world records

The win didn’t come easily to Jepchirchir though. In the final mile, there was a sprint between the two runners, Jepchirchir and Yeshaneh, and the leader switched eight times before Jepchirchir pulled out in front to run through the finish tape. The incredible last mile sprint between the two women runners was a perfect event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of women officially being able to enter the race. In the first year, 1971, only 8 women ran. In 2022, there were 12,100.

Since the news of the falling out between Cleveland Brown quarterback Baker Mayfield and his team, rumors have been circulating about where he will go in the NFL. Some seem to be speculating that one team in particular would be very keen to get him. On ESPN’s “Get Up”, sports reporter Jeff Darlington stated that the Pittsburgh Steelers would sign Mayfield “the very next day” if the Browns cut him. This is not the first of such rumors that have surfaced, as

Watson is currently facing 22 different active lawsuits, along with 10 criminal complaints that two grand juries from Texas chose to not charge him with that are related to acts of sexual misconduct and assault towards multiple massage therapists. According to his deal with Cleveland, for each game that he is suspended from the NFL in 2022 because he is serving for these lawsuits, he will lose only $55,556 from his contract.

But why would the Browns choose all this legal baggage over keeping their current quarterback? A major factor in this decision was clearly that Mayfield is coming off a very rough 2021-22 season.

Mayfield missed three of the games this last season due to injuries, and unfortunately he did not live up to expectations the rest of the season as well. He threw a total of 3,010 yards, as well as 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this past year. Furthermore he averaged 7.2 yards per attempt. This tied with the worst mark of Mayfield’s career. Additionally, his sack rate was 9.3%. This was by far Mayfield’s worst season in his NFL career, prompting the trade by the Browns for Watson.

back in March The Plain Dealer/Cleveland. com’s reporter Mary Kay Cabot also said that the Steelers would “pounce” at the opportunity to take Mayfield for themselves.

Mayfield began seeking to be moved from the Browns soon after he felt “disrespected” by the team’s choice to trade and sign Deshaun Watson. According to Mayfield, there was no open communication between the team and himself about the decision and that was the source of the disrespect that he felt.

Watson received a contract from the Browns for five years and 230 million dollars. However, this does come with some caveats for Watson due to his current legal situation.

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Despite what some reports are saying, it really doesn’t seem too clear cut as to where Mayfield will actually end up next year, and no team seems to be jumping at the opportunity to sign him, given the past season’s record.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has his own opinions on what the future looks like for the quarterback:

“If the Cleveland Browns are going to trade Baker Mayfield before the draft, which is possible, the Carolina Panthers seem like the most likely spot … Baker Mayfield said on a podcast that he thinks his most likely spot is Seattle. I think his most likely spot if he is going to get traded before the draft is the Carolina Panthers. What Carolina is doing right now is evaluating all the options.”

Nothing is certain at the current moment if the Browns will give Mayfield up, and as it currently stands no one knows for sure where he’ll be traded. This next season could turn out to be a gamechanger for the quarterback.