Boston, MA

Five Tuscaloosa County residents finish Boston Marathon

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Five Tuscaloosa County residents finish Boston Marathon

Out of the six Tuscaloosa County residents that were registered for the Boston Marathon, five crossed the finish line of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathon on Monday.

William McGee, 38, of Northport was the first county runner to cross the finish line, covering the distance in 2 hours, 38 minutes and 44 seconds. He finished 371 overall and was the second-fastest runner from Alabama.

For McGee, a former track and field runner at Auburn University, it was not his first marathon, but it was his first time getting to run the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon course, starting in Hopkinton and ending near Copley Square in Boston. McGee qualified for the Boston Marathon in December 2023 at the California International Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds.

“The only way to run it is to qualify, so for a lot of folks it is a real accomplishment just to get to the starting line,” McGee said. “It is also the oldest, ongoing marathon in the world … Just the amount of tradition along the course, they have been running the same course for 128 years, so the traditions, the lure, just the history of it just make it really a special race unlike really just any other.”

It was a 70-degree race day, and McGee was feeling the heat. By the time he crossed the finish line, his thoughts were focused on recovery, but were also focused on all the support he was receiving back in Tuscaloosa. The night before the race, he said, his phone was flooding with texts and messages from people within the Tuscaloosa community.

“It was a really warm day, so I was really glad to get finished,” McGee said. “It was really hot out there, no cloud cover, just in the sun all day. So, the first though (when I crossed the finish line) was to get fluids in my body and get in the shade … I just remember those final miles of the race, just thinking about all these new friends I have made over the past year that were supporting me from Tuscaloosa … I just became very overwhelmed with gratitude.”

Kathleen Callahan of Northport was the only county woman to finish and the oldest of the runners from the county at age 56. She crossed the finish line with a time of 4:04:23, while Chihiro Nakai was the second runner from the county to cross the finish line with a time of 3:18:27.

Below is a full list of how all five runners from Tuscaloosa County finished at the 2024 Boston Marathon:

ALABAMA SOFTBALL: Kayla Braud’s journey from player to broadcaster to now Alabama softball assistant coach

NICK SABAN COMMEMORATIVE BOOK: Relive Nick Saban’s epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book! Preorder here.

Tuscaloosa County Boston Marathon finishers

371. William McGee, Northport: 2:38:44

6,500. Chihiro Nakai, Tuscaloosa: 3:18:27

16,899. Kathleen Callahan, Northport: 4:04:23

19,231. Russ Guin, Tuscaloosa: 4:22:25

23,436. John Sanders, Tuscaloosa, 5:12:11

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

Source link

Click to comment

Boston, MA

Investigation underway after daylight shooting in Dorchester leaves person hospitalized – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

Published

2 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Investigation underway after daylight shooting in Dorchester leaves person hospitalized – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Dorchester on Saturday afternoon that left a person hospitalized, officials said.

Officers responding to a reported shooting in the area of 480 Quincy St. around 3 p.m. found a person suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to Boston police. The person was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries.

Ballistic evidence was recovered nearby in the area of Coleman Street.

No arrests have been made.

No additional information was immediately available.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Source link

Boston, MA

Boston hosts one of the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Published

14 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Boston hosts one of the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

With St. Patrick’s Day only two weeks away, the city of Boston is preparing to host the biggest celebration of the holiday in all of Massachusetts – the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade.

However, the Southie parade is not only one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the country, but also one of the oldest. In fact, Boston first hosted a parade for St. Patrick’s Day in 1737, 39 years before the country itself was even formed. While the celebration has not happened every year since then, according to the date of establishment, Boston’s parade is the second-oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world.

Here’s a brief history of South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

History of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade

According to the parade website, the city of Boston first hosted a St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 1737. The celebration was “a gesture of solidarity among the city’s new Irish immigrants,” as “Boston’s Irish community joined together in festivities of their homeland to honor the memory of the Patron Saint of Ireland.”

In 1901, the parade moved to South Boston, a neighborhood with a large Irish population. Southie is also home to Dorchester Heights, where British troops evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. Given the significance of both occasions to the city, Boston’s annual parade came to celebrate both St. Patrick’s Day and Irish heritage, as well as Evacuation Day and military service.

The parade happens each year on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick’s Day, taking a break in 1994 and again in 2020-21.

What is the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebration?

The oldest recorded celebration of St. Patrick’s Day took place in St. Augustine, Florida in 1600, with the city’s first parade following in 1601.

According to University of South Florida history professor J. Michael Francis, “The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States did not occur in Boston or New York. Rather, those who first gathered to venerate St. Patrick and process through city streets included a blend of Spaniards, Africans, Native Americans, Portuguese, a French surgeon, a German fifer, and at least two Irishmen, who marched together in honor of the Irish saint.”

While St. Augustine still hosts a parade for the Irish holiday today, the oldest continuous St. Patrick’s Day Parade is in New York City, where there has been a parade every year since 1762.

Source link

Boston, MA

Andris Nelsons out as music director of Boston Symphony at end of 2026-27 season

Published

1 day ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Andris Nelsons out as music director of Boston Symphony at end of 2026-27 season

Entertainment

Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras.

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal for the traditional New Year’s concert at the golden hall of Vienna’s Musikverein, in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File) AP

By RONALD BLUM, Associated Press

March 6, 2026 | 6:00 PM

2 minutes to read

Andris Nelsons is being forced out as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2027 after 13 seasons.

The orchestra made an unusually blunt announcement Friday.

“The decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra continues to perform at the highest levels, the BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision,” the BSO said in a statement from its trustees and CEO Chad Smith.

A five-time Grammy award winner, the 47-year-old Nelsons is currently leading the Vienna Philharmonic on a U.S. tour and was to conduct the orchestra in Naples, Florida, on Friday night.

“While this is not the decision I anticipated or wanted, I am unwaveringly committed to you and to our work together,” Nelson wrote in a letter to BSO musicians and staff that was released by his management agency. “I understand the decision was not related to artistic standards, performances, or achievements during my tenure, and, therefore, my focus is straightforward: to protect the music, support the orchestra’s stability, and continue to perform with the musicians of the BSO at the highest artistic level.”

Nelsons made his BSO debut in March 2011 at New York’s Carnegie Hall as a replacement for James Levine, who announced 10 days earlier he was stepping down as BSO music director at the end of the 2010-11 season because of poor health.

Nelson was announced as music director in May 2013 and given a five-year contract starting with the 2014-15 season. The orchestra announced contract extensions in 2015 and 2020, then in January 2024 said he was given an evergreen rolling contract. He was bestowed an added title of head of conducting at Tanglewood, the music and educational center that is the orchestra’s summer home.

The last extension was announced a few months after Smith, who had been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, started as the BSO’s chief executive.

Nelsons was music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Britain from 2008-09 and has been chief conductor of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Germany since the 2017-18 season. He married soprano Kristine Opolais in 2011, and in 2018 they announced their divorce.

Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras. Gustavo Dudamel is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer after 17 seasons to become music director of the New York Philharmonic and Franz Welser-Möst will depart the Cleveland Orchestra at the end of 2026-27 after 25 seasons.

In addition, Klaus Mäkelä takes over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027-28, when he also starts as chief conductor the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.

Source link