T minus 1 week until my annual pilgrimage of 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in downtown Boston. I think I feel my feet tingling!

As a professed runner geek and marathon junkie I will insert some Boston Marathon factoids here:

1. The marathon is a point to point race starting in Hopkinton and continuing through the six towns of Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley (the 13.1 point OR more importantly for anyone looking for a kiss…the ‘Scream Tunnel’ of the Wellesley girls), Newton, Brookline and then Boston.

2. This is the oldest annual marathon in the world. 2010 is the 114th running. John J. McDermott won the first Boston in 1897 with a time of 2 hours and 55 minutes and 10 seconds. Today, it will take a man a time of around 2 hours and 7 minutes to be crowned the winner. Bobbi Gibb, the first female to run the entire course in 1966 ran a 3 hour and 21 minute marathon (give me a time machine now because I could have been on her heals!). Today women are running the course in sub 2 hours and 30 minutes!

3. Women were not officially allowed to enter the Boston Marathon until 1972. This year marks the highest amount of female entrants thus far in Boston Marathon History. I will be joining 11, 304 other kicka** ladies for the journey. The marathon caps at 25,000 total runners.

4. Every year, the Boston Red Sox play a home game at Fenway starting at 10:05 a.m. When the game ends, the crowd empties into Kenmore Square to cheer as the runners enter the final mile.

Some have said that this route is Paul Revere’s ride in reverse. Well, this really is not so, although it is fun to think about while running the race. Paul rode from the North End of Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams (mmm, beer) and John Hancock that the British were coming to arrest them. The marathon is actually held on Patriots Day, which is the anniversary of Paul’s midnight ride.

You can visit Paul Revere’s house today. It was built in 1680 and is still standing at 19 North Square. I will be paying a visit next week as I make my way by Faneuil Hall to fill my face with pasta at one of the North End’s many italian restaurants. The North End is also called Boston’s Little Italy and is the choice hood for marathoners to carbo load. This neighborhood is the city’s oldest residential community, where people have lived since the 1630′s. It is a very small area only taking up 1/3 square mile and still offers a variety of tourist attractions and over 100 eating establishments.  The North End was also where the Molasses Disaster of 1919 took place.

This ‘UpTake’ is of the Famous Bova Bakery (located in the North End), open 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. After engorging yourself on some pasta, the bakery is a must for the most amazing cannoli and some banter with the members of the Bova family. Ralphie Bova is always there and will even offer you a tour! This is a true family run establishment, owned and operated by generations of the Bovas. If you have no room in the tummy after dinner for sweets, you still must take some cannoli to go! If this place was open on April 18 in 1775, I am positive that Mr. Revere would have stopped here for a box of treats before saddling up to ride. Everyone likes a midnight snack!

Yummz!

Photos courtesy of : Bart Hanlon and AmandaJ