Seventh Annual Midnight Marathon Bike Ride to Take Place on April 19

Update, April 20, 10 a.m.: Check out photos from the 2015 Midnight Marathon Bike Ride.

While runners anticipate the race to Boylston on Patriots Day, hundreds of bikers from around the Bay State will embark on their own trek to 26.2. The Midnight Marathon Bike Ride is back for its seventh year in a row where cyclists will take on the Boston Marathon course just hours before runners as a way to honor the city’s most preeminent and celebrated race.

Hosted by BostonSOS (the folks behind the No Pants Subway Ride), participating cyclists will board a one-way 11 p.m. Commuter Rail train from South Station to Southborough near the starting line in Hopkinton. While the train is restricted to bodies only, event organizers arranged for a moving truck to transport bikes to the starting line via “Truck n’ Train” tickets.

“The nature of the ride is show-and-go,” says Greg Hum, founder of the midnight ride. “It’s very much your own ride. It’s not supported, no one is holding your hand. It’s here just to get your friends together and do it. But that’s the beauty of the ride, and how it’s evolved.”

While the MBTA secured a private Commuter Rail train for the occasion back in 2013, allowing for both cyclists and bikes, the T was not as accommodating in 2014, nor this year. However, Hum says that hopping on a train within the regular Commuter Rail schedule worked just as well, if not better.

“Years past, people were taking 300 bikes on the train,” says Hum. “It’s more efficient putting bikes inside a truck.”

As for participant turnout, Hum says he has between 500-600 riders last year. “When we got to the station there were swarms and swarms of people who got there on their own,” says Hum. He points out about 200-300 took the T. “Some people were there who rode to Southborough and back.”

In 2014, the midnight ride gave $2000 in proceeds to an organization called Bikes Not Bombs. This year, Hum is allowing ticket-buyers to select from five different organizations to donate their funds: Livable Streets Alliance, Mass Bike Coaltion, Boston Cyclists Union, Bikes Not Bombs, CommonWheels Bicycle Collective.

And finally, the completion of the journey ends with charity breakfast hosted at Boston Common Coffee Co., something Hum is bringing back from 2014. What better way to end a trek than with pancakes and bacon?

Participating in the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride is free of charge. “Truck n’ Train” tickets and Charity Pancake Breakfast tickets are available on Eventbrite.