Greece will be offering olive wreaths to those who participate and complete the 118th Boston Marathon which is scheduled to be held on April 21, 2014. This year is the first anniversary of the tragic incident that happened during the 2013 Marathon.
Two powerful consecutive explosions near the finish line disrupted the race, costing the lives of three spectators and injuring more than 250 persons who were nearby.
The wreaths will be delivered to the Boston Athletic Association by the Consul General of Greece in Boston Ifigenia Kanara in a special ceremony on April 17. The ceremony has been continuously organized since 1993, when Christos Panagopoulos was the Consul General in Boston.
The ceremony won’t be hosted at the Consulate General of Greece as usual. This year instead, it will be held at the Massachusetts State House. The ceremony will be attended by the President of Massachusetts Senate, the Speaker of Massachusetts House of Representatives, executive officers of the government and the opposition along with guests from the local community, U.S. media and executives of Greek-American institutions of New England.
Moreover, the winner of a special competition dedicated to the Marathon and supported by the Consulate General of Greece will be awarded at the ceremony. The competition is organized at the middle schools of Hopkinton, the city where the Marathon begins, and more than 800 students are expected to participate. The initiative is based on a special Marathon curriculum created by Hopkinton professors which includes courses about Ancient Greece, Greek culture and the history of the Marathon.
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