Organizers will hold the Boston Marathon on Oct. 11 this year if road races are allowed. Stew Milne/Associated Press
Participants in this year’s Boston Marathon may be required to show proof of up to two negative COVID-19 tests before the race even if they have been vaccinated, the Boston Athletic Association said Wednesday.
The historic race will also carry a new $25 fee to cover costs associated with preventing the spread of the coronavirus, and organizers are eliminating a staging area in Hopkinton where athletes traditionally mingle and stretch before the start of the race.
“The B.A.A. is committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of participants, volunteers and the public,” Tom Grilk, the organization’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “We will continue to follow the science and adapt the event plan to reflect guidance from our local, city and state partners.”
The BAA announced in January that the 125th edition of the marathon would be pushed back from its traditional April running to Oct. 11, assuming road races are allowed to take place under Massachusetts’ COVID-19 restrictions by then.
Organizers later announced the race would be capped at 20,000 participants to allow for social distancing along the course. A virtual option is also being offered for up to 70,000 athletes.
Officials said they would share more details on testing requirements “in the coming months.”
Instead of gathering at the traditional “Athletes’ Village” in Hopkinton, waves of participants will be bused to the starting line for their assigned take-off time, the BAA said.
COLLEGES
BASEBALL: Maine (9-8, 5-5 America East) took the lead for good by scoring six runs in the top of the sixth inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Joe Bramanti and Alex McKenney, in an 8-2 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology (7-13, 6-8) in a doubleheader opener in Orono.
Nick Sinacola improved to 5-0 this season, striking out 10 while allowing two runs in five innings.
The Highlanders scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning to edge the Black Bears 10-9 in the second game.
SOFTBALL: Southern Maine (12-1-1) scored six runs in the second inning and rolled to an 8-0 victory in five innings to secure a sweep of a doubleheader over Western Connecticut (0-4) in Danbury, Connecticut.
Ashley Tinsman was 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI, while Belle Snyder and Rona Scott each added a pair of hits for Southern Maine in Game 2.
Trailing 4-0 after five innings, Southern Maine scored seven runs in the sixth, paced by a two-run single by Brynn Hink and a two-run double from Alexis Brown, to take the opener, 8-4.
MEN’S HOCKEY: Wisconsin forward Cole Caufield won the Hobey Baker Award as the top college hockey player.
Caufield edged North Dakota forward Shane Pinto and Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay.
The 20-year-old Montreal Canadiens prospect led the nation with 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canadiens, and scored Friday in his professional debut for the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket.
TENNIS
VOLVO CAR OPEN: Paula Badosa beat top-ranked Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the season’s first clay-court tournament, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Badosa next faces Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, who beat former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-4.
OLYMPICS
TOKYO VIRUS ALERT LEVEL: Japan announced Friday that it will raise the coronavirus alert level in Tokyo to allow tougher measures to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Summer Olympics.
Japan’s national vaccination drive has lagged and most people in the capital still have not been inoculated as infections have surged.
The raised status announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will allow Tokyo’s governor to mandate shorter opening hours for bars and restaurants, along with punishments for violators and compensation for those who comply. The measures are to begin Monday and continue through May 11.
Many of Tokyo’s cases have been linked to nightlife and dining, though they have recently spread to offices, elderly care facilities and schools, experts say.
Suga also raised the alert level for Kyoto in western Japan and the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, where cases have surged in recent weeks. The new status there is to continue through May 5, the end of Japan’s “Golden Week” holidays, to discourage traveling.
“We will do everything to contain infections within the affected areas and prevent them from spreading across the country,” Suga told reporters.
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