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.
BOSTON (WHDH) – A pedestrian was hit and killed in Roxbury Thursday morning.
The collision occurred just before 8:20 a.m. on Tremont Street.
Police said Tremont Street was closed in both directions between Brigham Circle and Roxbury Crossing.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
A 96-year-old Boston woman received the surprise of a lifetime when she discovered the French men’s national soccer team had become her neighbors at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Back Bay.
Shirley, a beloved resident of the neighborhood, said she had no idea she would end up meeting the players in town for the World Cup.
“They’re my buddies,” she said with a laugh.
Her caretaker, Samia, said Shirley has become well known around Back Bay.
“Anyone outside, when we are walking, people come to her and want to talk to her,” Samia said.
The U.S. is out of the World Cup. Fellow co-hosts Mexico and Canada are too. So who should
The excitement around the hotel grew after the French team arrived to stay there during the tournament.
Shirley said the encounter happened unexpectedly while she was eating lunch.
“I was having lunch and they came over, and since then, it’s been wonderful to have them here,” she said.
Shirley said team representatives soon invited her to meet the players.
“And they said, ‘He would like to meet you.’ I said, ‘I’m glad to meet anybody,’” she recalled.
For this Massachusetts teenager, attending a World Cup match was more than a dream come true, it was a milestone in a journey that began when he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma — something that might not have happened if he hadn’t been playing soccer.
After the visit, Shirley recorded a cellphone video sharing her excitement.
“This is absolutely — I cannot tell you how unbelievably fabulous this is,” she said.
The meeting ended with a memorable gift: A jersey from French star Kylian Mbappé.
The team also made her a promise.
“[They] told me that if they win, he will sign it, and then it will be worth a lot of money,” she said, laughing.
Samia, who is from Algeria, quickly agreed. She said she was already a devoted supporter of the French squad after spending many years living in France.
“I’m so excited. I went to Philadelphia to watch the game this past weekend. So, believe me, I’m totally 100% with them. I wanted them to go back to France with a cup,” she said.
Shirley said she never expected to become a fan, but she appreciated the sense of community the tournament brought to her neighborhood.
“It’s good to see such camaraderie happening, with people here getting along. Yeah, it’s the greatest thing,” she said.
She said she still did not know why the team wanted to meet her, but she’s grateful nonetheless. Shirley remains hopeful her new friends would keep winning, and keep returning to Boston.
Local News
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Wednesday that the city is suing social media companies — including Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube — over their alleged deliberate targeting of minors with addictive features.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Boston Public Schools in federal court in California, will be consolidated with more than 1,500 similar complaints from school districts around the country, Wu’s office said.
The lawsuit seeks to force the companies to remove addictive features and compensate the city for the mental health support needed by students. It alleges the companies designed addictive features specifically to keep young people engaged. These features include endless scrolling, frequent notifications, and personalized algorithms, city officials said.
In a statement, Wu said that these companies have evidence of the harm they are causing to children.
“Boston is taking legal action to protect children and youth and hold these companies accountable. Today, we are making it clear that social media companies must end exploitative practices and be accountable to standards of basic protection for children,” she said.
The move comes as more Massachusetts politicians look to rein in social media companies. The state’s House of Representatives passed a bill in April that would implement a phone ban in schools and prohibit children 14 and younger from using social media. Gov. Maura Healey followed that up by introducing legislation that would require social media companies to verify users’ ages and limit the ways in which minors are exposed to potentially addictive design features.
Just last week, the state Senate unveiled legislation that would require social media companies to automatically disable these types of features for minors.
BPS officials say that they have seen a “significant increase” in social media-fueled mental health needs over the past decade. They cited data from the Boston Public Health Commission that shows the impact on high school students. In 2015, just 26.7% of Boston public high school students reported “persistent sadness.” By 2021, that figure had risen to 43.9%.
The district says it has responded by “exponentially” expanding mental health resources. In 2007, there were six social workers and 48 school psychologists employed in the BPS system. The district now has 240 social workers and 105 school psychologists, officials said.
“We work hard to set our students on the best course for success through rigorous academics and whole-student supports, and the research is clear that social media has had a negative impact on students’ well-being while benefiting companies. We all need to do what is right for our students,” Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a statement.
In March, a jury in California found that Meta and YouTube are liable for intentionally designing addictive features and that executives failed to protect young users.
In May, Meta and other social media companies settled a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district in a bellwether case.
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