The B.A.A. 5K Changes Course

New B.A.A. 5K map provided by the B.A.A.

On February 6th, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced that registration for its pre-Marathon 5K has closed. Registration opened on Wednesday, February 5 at 10 a.m. and was sold out at 3:25 p.m. the next day. The 3.1 mile race will be held April 19, the Saturday before the Boston Marathon and gives runners who want to participate in the weekend’s festivities a chance to run without having to complete Monday’s 26.2 miles. (Suckers!)

The field size for the 2014 race is 10,000 runners. Just last year (2013) there were 6,500 participants, which makes that an increase of 3,500 runners. In order to accommodate that many people, the start and finish lines for the B.A.A. 5K have been relocated from Copley Square to Charles Street between the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common. The 2014 B.A.A. 5K course will be a scenic tour through the Back Bay and runners will pass many of the city’s famous landmarks such as Newbury Street, Boston Common, and the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street before returning to Charles Street for the finish.

B.A.A. reps say that the course itself is essentially the same. It’s really just the start and finish that has been shifted from the Boston Marathon start line area to Boston Common. Otherwise, it covers the same course as last year.

The B.A.A. 5K is the first race of the 2014 B.A.A. Distance Medley, a three-race series which combines the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A. 10K on June 22, and the B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, on October 12. About 2,625 runners signed up for all three events of the 2014 B.A.A. Distance Medley in January.