Marathon inside Fenway Park

Marathon runners don’t usually mean the Big Green Monster at Fenway Park when they talk about hitting the wall. But today, 50 runners will circle the outfield 116 times to cover the classic 26.2-mile distance in a race being billed as the first marathon held entirely within the confines of a major league ballpark.

While the Red Sox are on the road in St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Rays, the race will be run around the playing surface and along the Big Green Monster. Dave McGillivray, long time Boston Marathon race director, organized the unusual event. In its 105-year history, “America’s most beloved ballpark” hosted (ice) hockey games, soccer games, Irish hurling, rock concerts, movie nights and ski jumping, but today’s marathon event is completely new.

As a little kid, McGillivray dreamt of playing shortstop for the Red Sox but he was just too short to become a professional ballplayer, so he turned to running. McGillivray participated in several races of which the most famed was a 1978 run across the continental U.S. that began in Seattle’s Kingdome and ended within the walls of Fenway Park.

After McGillivray struck a deal with the Red Sox Foundation, he posted the concept on Facebook to see if anyone was interested. According to McGillivray, the expressions of interest were beyond expectations.

To participate in the race isn’t cheap. To keep things manageable, he invited only fifty runners who had to commit to raising at least $5,000 for the Red Sox Foundation, which focuses mainly on improving health and promoting recreation for New England children.

McGillivray is envisioning marathons in other ballparks as well if the Fenway Park version is a success.