Q&A with Amby Burfoot

As a Boston Marathon champion, award-winning journalist, and veteran of many Patriots' Day races (including his own win on the Friday edition of the 1968 Boston Marathon), Amby Burfoot shares his thoughts on the holiday's importance.

Amby Burfoot finished last October's race in 4:33:54.

What does the Boston Marathon and Patriots' Day mean to you?

Honestly, Patriots' Day has become mainly synonymous with Boston Marathon Day for me. As a child in school, I remember the lessons we had about Patriots' Day, Paul Revere, all the patriots, the Boston Tea Party, taxation without representation, the three-cornered hats, the long rides, and all that. But it was school learning, and seemed very distant, from a long-ago time, and hard to fully absorb even with the important message about freedom from tyranny.

Once I began running the Boston Marathon in 1965 (a Monday), 1967 (a Wednesday) and 1968 (a Friday)— I missed 1966 with a stress fracture in my foot—Patriots' Day became a very emotional, visceral day for me. But the emotion was all about the Marathon, not about Paul Revere and the patriots.

What was running Boston on a Friday like in 1968? Was it different than running on a Monday?

Well, I've only run one Boston Marathon on a Friday, and on that day I paced myself alongside the leaders from the start until making a mid-race surge that eventually carried me to victory. So I'd have to say that Friday is my favorite day for Boston Marathon running. Do you think there's any chance for a change to all Fridays?

Amby Burfoot, in 1968, at the finish of his winning run.

Is there a favorite Patriots' Day memory of yours from over the years?

So many, I don't know where to start. But here's the most recent: Since the comeback Boston Marathon of 2014—by the way, the greatest marathon the world will ever see— I've passed out little business cards to kids (and a few grandparents) lining the course. The cards say: "Thank you for supporting the Boston Marathon through the years. You, spectators, are what make the marathon so great." On a number of occasions, I've later received digital photos of the kids and grandparents holding up my card with what seems a certain delight. I treasure those images.

Some say that Patriots' Day is the runner's holiday — that it's a celebration of the sport. Would you agree?

Of course. The now-traditional Monday race date might be a mixed bag for various reasons, but it definitely sets Boston apart, definitely makes a statement and definitely amounts to a day when runners around the world, including those on the start line in Hopkinton to those in Hong Kong, Honolulu, and Ho Chi Minh City, have their attention focused on the twisty, hilly route to Boston. You can't recreate what the Boston Marathon has—history, tradition, great champions, great tragedies—and it only gets better with each passing year.