Boston University School of Law

There is something amusing and exhilarating about having a holiday on a day that nobody else in the country has a holiday. That is precisely the case for Patriots’ Day, which takes place on the third Monday in April every year. It’s a Bostonian holiday that commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.

Patriots’ Day is a public holiday in Boston but nowhere else in the country (maybe other parts of Massachusetts). It’s also known as Marathon Monday because it’s the day on which the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest marathon and the first marathon of the marathon season, is run. The marathon begins in Hopkinton (a town outside Boston) and finishes at Boston’s Copley Square, with the final few miles being run right next to and through BU’s campus.

This is a uniquely Bostonian Day because the Marathon starts early in the morning and runs the whole day. People have marathon parties at apartments and rooftops along the marathon route. The Marathon also happens to run right next to Fenway Park, where the Red Sox traditionally schedule a game on Patriots Day. The weather is usually great and there are people all over the place and you can gloat and be happy that you’re the only people in the country that have a holiday on this day.

The marathon route runs through BU's South Campus

BU students flood Beacon Street to watch the marathon