It all started in 1974 as a serendipitous ‘fact-checking’ moment at the finish line of the Boston Marathon during the infancy of its broadcast days. Yet 50 years later broadcaster Larry Rawson – The Voice of the Boston Marathon – will reach an extraordinary milestone today.

But when you’ve grown up in the shadows of the famous Newton Hills and attended Boston College, where else would you spend Patriots Day, also known as Marathon Monday, as the eyes, ears, and voice of the 128-year-old event?

For Rawson, a longtime Naples resident, the lead-up to his 50th year broadcasting the Boston Marathon is a “true pinch me” moment.

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“I’m excited because it’s 50. I really am” Rawson said. “I admit it’s a big number and it’s a privilege to have been so deeply involved in such an iconic event for so long.

“I mean, in our country, to be perfectly honest with you, it’s hard to last a long time in broadcasting, especially television, and I’m grateful that the audiences, ESPN, and my fellow commentators have stuck with me and have continued to want to listen to me and to work with me and to the work I put in.”

As he’s done for most of the previous 49 broadcasts, initially for radio and various television networks including ESPN since 1976, he arrived in Boston five days before the race.

Although Larry is a fixture of the Boston Marathon, he says the focus should always be on the 30,000 runners, officials, volunteers, civic officials, and spectators who will always be the heart and soul of the event.

“It’s not about me – it’s never been about me, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I’ve always said, ‘I’m like the doctor trying to deliver a healthy baby on the day of the event.’ The passion for the marathon, Boston and sharing athletes’ stories is still there, the hunger to share stories on air and to bring insights is still there. It’s always been this way – it’s just the way I am.

“As for being able to recall stats and facts and find a few ‘wow’ moments, that’s not something I ‘train for’ as such. I certainly prepare and do a lot of research and homework before any event that I broadcast, but I’ve always been a math guy. Stuff just sticks in my brain.”

A former star miler at Boston College, he became an accidental broadcaster in 1974 when he felt compelled to correct factual errors being broadcast about Irish-born race leader Neil Cusack. The hapless engineer turned rookie commentator at the finish line and suddenly had a microphone thrust under his nose and could competently fill a 45-minute radio slot with local knowledge and general distance running and training insights.

That led to becoming a ‘real broadcaster’ in 1975 when he found himself in the back seat of a Rolls Royce between the media truck and the lead pack, calling the race for radio as a little-known local runner named Bill Rodgers burst from obscurity for his first of four Boston victories.

“Larry has always been one of the most informed broadcasters of marathon coverage in the US,” Rodgers said. “In the early days of Boston broadcasting, the locals didn’t know much about marathons, especially those involved in the TV coverage. Thank God we had Larry Rawson to reach the public in an intelligent and insightful way.”

While many things have changed about how and where he does his commentary, there seems to be one constant for the man himself: a wonder and admiration in everything that is Boston Marathon and more broadly, athletics. For Rawson, it appears almost as if he’s like a young child seeing the event for the first time. It keeps him energized.

Whether it’s the Boston, New York, or Chicago marathons (he’s called a total of 113 World Marathon Majors), the summer Olympics (of which he’s called seven) or 50 years of NCAA meets, Larry still seems to keep his mind and eyes fresh and fascinating, which he hopes is reflected in his commentary of every event. 

“Larry is excellent at what he does and has been great for keeping our sport available, accessible, and relevant to our ‘fringe fans and spectators’, those who might not know the history and backgrounds to current athletes, especially the Kenyans and Ethiopians,” said 1976 Boston Marathon winner Jack Fultz. “We always catch up for a chat at Boston every year and I’m looking forward to doing that again in 2024.”

― Ian Eckersley is a runner/writer from Australia. Ian is a long-time Boston Marathon aficionado, two-time Boston Marathon finisher, and former television sports broadcaster.