var fact1 = new Array (
"The inaugural race in 1897 had 18 entrants. In 2007, 23,869 people ran the Boston Marathon."
)

var fact2 = new Array (
"The marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 served as the inspiration for the B.A.A. Boston Marathon. John Graham, coach and manager of the B.A.A. athletes, was a keen observer of the Marathon-to-Athens Race and returned to Boston with plans to institute a strikingly similar long distance run the following spring."
)

var fact3 = new Array (
"The first running of the Boston Marathon on April 19, 1897 started at the site of Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland and finished at the Irvington Street Oval near Copley Square."
)

var fact4 = new Array (
"The course was lengthened in 1924 to 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to the Olympic standard, and the starting line was moved west from Ashland to Hopkinton."
)

var fact5 = new Array (
"The last of Newton’s hills was given the nickname 'Heartbreak Hill' by Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason in 1936. When John A. Kelley caught eventual champion Ellison 'Tarzan' Brown on the Newton hills, Kelley made a friendly gesture of tapping Brown on the shoulder. Brown responded by regaining the lead on the final hill, and as Nason reported, 'breaking Kelley’s heart.'"
)

var fact6 = new Array (
"Although not an official entrant, Roberta 'Bobbi' Gibb became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966. She finished in 3:21:40."
)

var fact7 = new Array (
"The Boston Marathon has always been held on the holiday commemorating Patriots' Day and beginning in 1969, the holiday became officially recognized on the third Monday in April."
)

var fact8 = new Array (
"Women were officially allowed to run the Boston Marathon in 1972."
)

var fact9 = new Array (
"Prize money was awarded for the first time in 1986, with the principal sponsorship of John Hancock Financial Services."
)

var fact10 = new Array (
"Kenya's Ibrahim Hussein was the first African to win the Boston Marathon in 1988."
)

var fact11 = new Array (
"Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia was the first African woman to win the Boston Marathon in 1997."
)

var fact12 = new Array (
"It has become tradition for members of the Kenyan Marathon team to visit the Elmwood School in Hopkinton a few days before the Boston Marathon."
)

var fact13 = new Array (
"At the finish line this year, runners can expect: Medical support; Poland Spring water and Gatorade Endurance Formula; Heatsheet blankets; finisher's medals; PowerBar, assorted snack foods and fruit."
)

var fact14 = new Array (
"Jacques LeDuc, of Ashland, has been painting the start line in Hopkinton since 1981. The start used to just feature a white line. Now it changes every year, and includes the word START as well as topical images. For instance, the year John Kelley died, LeDuc featured the Marathon legend's image. Last year, when the start time was changed from noon to 10 a.m., LeDuc included 110 Roman numeral 12s to mark the number of years noon was the start time. LeDuc tries to paint the line the Wednesday before the Marathon, depending on weather. Between waiting for paint to dry and accounting for traffic and detours, it takes a good part of the day to paint the entire line."
)