Sports

Hopkinton Fast Fact: Wheelchair Marathoners

1970 saw the first entrant, a Vietnam vet, and in 1975, the first official entrant finished in 2:58.

Vietnam veteran Eugene Roberts, who lost both legs in combat, started the Boston Marathon at the Hopkinton Town Common in 1970.

Roberts started after the runners and finished in 6:07 with a huge entourage he had gathered along the way.

In 1975, race director Will Cloney told 23-year-old Rob Hall, a Belmont native, that he would be issued an official finisher's certificate if he finished in under three hours.

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Hall's time was 2:58.


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