Boston Marathon

Reaching Out To The Community

2011 Push Rim Wheelchair Champions, Masazumi Soejima (L) and Wakako Tsuchida (R) hold a Japanese flag pledging support to their recently devastated country. John Hancock raised over $10,000 over Marathon Weekend for relief efforts in Japan

Whenever John Hancock sponsors a major event like the Marathon, it is important for the community to benefit as well. John Hancock sponsors many community initiatives in coordination with the Marathon each year including the John Hancock Boston Marathon Non-Profit Program, the Adopt-a-Marathoner program and the Scholars & Stars track event.

The Non-Profit Program offers local organizations the opportunity to secure invitational entries into the race. These entries provide a significant fundraising opportunity and important exposure for these non-profits. In 2011 more than a thousand John Hancock sponsored non-profit runners, including John Hancock and Manulife employee runners, raised $5.3 million for 90 local charities and Habitat for Humanity-Canada.

The Adopt-a-Marathoner program, now in its 20th year, brings John Hancock's elite Kenyan runners together with Hopkinton elementary students for a pre-race pep-rally in the historic town where the Marathon begins. Students study the culture of their running friends throughout the year and are introduced to the athletes during race week.

2011 John Hancock Elite Athletes take to the track at the Reggie Lewis Track Center with local students chosen to participate in the inaugural Scholars & Stars program

The Scholars & Stars track event brings former Boston Marathon champions together with Boston high school scholar-athletes for small-group running clinics. In 2011 Joan Benoit Samuelson, Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer, Catherine Ndereba and Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot shared training tips with 100 students at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center during race week. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, John Hancock employee-volunteers and representatives from the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and Tufts University also participated.

To view a complete list of John Hancock's 2012 Non-Profit Partners, click here.

In 2011, 1,003 John Hancock sponsored non-profit runners raised a record $5.3 million for non-profits. Over the past 26 years the official BAA and John Hancock Non-Profit Programs have raised more than $150 million dollars.

Helping To Keep The Race Running

Each year, John Hancock recruits the world's top distance runners and brings these elite athletes to Boston for the Marathon, where they stay in the John Hancock Elite Athlete Village. A group of employee volunteers ensure the athletes are well taken care of pre and post-race. Since the elite athlete program began, the Company has hosted nearly 600 elite athletes from 45 countries.

John Hancock also provides a substantial prize purse and performance bonuses to top finishers and offers to the eight communities along the Marathon route - Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Boston - a wide range of financial support and other services.

It's a sign of spring when the JH Boston Marathon banners come out

In addition, the Company sponsors the John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo, which is the official location for picking up entry bibs and other important race information. The Expo serves as a hub for Marathon participants and their guests throughout Race Weekend, drawing 200 exhibitors and 80,000 visitors annually.

To support the local, national and international media representatives who cover the race, John Hancock produces the official Boston Marathon print and online Media Guides; coordinates press events, materials and credentials; hosts a Twitter site @jhboston26 and supports operation of the Boston Marathon press room.

On race day, John Hancock makes several of its Copley Square facilities available for use by the Marathon and the hundreds of employee-sponsored volunteers who assist with race-related tasks. And anyone who has stood seven people deep at the Finish Line can tell you how important the John Hancock-provided giant television screen is to the public's view of the race.