Boston Marathon hopes to raise up to $50 million for charity

IT IS THE HARDEST. MILE. NOT EASY. LET’S, UH, SPEAKING OF THE BAR AND THE GREAT WORK THEY DO, LET’S BRING IN THE BAR. CEO JACK FLEMING. JACK, GREAT TO SEE YOU. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. UH, HAVING ME UP. HOW ARE YOU FEELING NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE? WE’VE COME SO FAR. RUNNERS ARE HERE AT THE FINISH LINE. I MEAN, IT’S BEEN AN AMAZING WEYMOUTH ON MONDAY. THANK YOU. THE CITY’S THE COMMONWEALTH HAS REALLY COME ALIVE. UH, IT’S REALLY, UH, FEEL LIKE IT’S THE START OF SPRING IN NEW ENGLAND. LOOK BEHIND US. IT’S A REALLY A CELEBRATION OF, UH, FITNESS. IT’S, UH, IT’S NOT ONLY RECREATION. IT’S NOT ONLY A SPORT. UM, IT’S AN ACTIVITY THAT BRINGS EVERYBODY OUT, INSPIRES OTHERS TO TAKE THEIR FIRST STEP. AND THE CONDITIONS TODAY REALLY CERTAINLY IDEAL FOR SPECTATORS. A LITTLE WARM FOR THE RUNNERS. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS PIECE OF VIDEO RIGHT HERE. WE’RE WATCHING THE GREAT MEB KEFLEZIGHI CROSS THE FINISH LINE. OF COURSE, TEN YEARS AFTER HIS ICONIC. WE USED THAT WORD A LOT, BUT HIS WIN IN 2014 CERTAINLY MEETS THE DEFINITION OF ICONIC. YOU EMBRACED HIM FOR QUITE A WHILE. CAN I ASK ABOUT THAT EXCHANGE? ABSOLUTELY. I MEAN, IT REALLY GOES BACK TO THE 2013 AND 2014 RACES WHERE WHEN MEB UH, RIGHT AFTER 2013, SAID HE WANTED TO COME BACK AND, YOU KNOW, LO AND BEHOLD, HE ENDED UP WINNING IT. IT WAS A BIG BURDEN. UM, HELPED WITH THAT BOSTON STRONG MOVEMENT. UM, PAID, PAID, PAID IT OFF. IT WAS REALLY MEB STRONG THEN. AND YOU SAW IT AGAIN TODAY. VERY, VERY MEB STRONG. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT TO WATCH, YOU KNOW, NOW THE 128TH BOSTON MARATHON. IT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME. HIS WARWICK YOU KNOW, AND IT’S IN YOUR HANDS. RIGHT. AND SETTING SOMETHING LIKE THIS UP IS NO EASY FEAT IN ITSELF. TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SO WELCOMING FOR FOR RUNNERS, FOR THE SPECTATORS TO BE HERE, TALK ABOUT THAT. UM, AND HOW MUCH GOES INTO THIS. WELL, EVERYBODY PLAYS SUCH A HUGE PART, WHETHER IT BE THE 9500 VOLUNTEERS, UH, THE 500,000 SPECTATORS CHEERING THEM ON, UH, THE EIGHT CITIES AND TOWNS, THE POLICE, THE PUBLIC SAFETY, UH, THE MEDIA PARTNERS, THE NEIGHBORS. I MEAN, WE’RE THE BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION IS A 40 PERSON ORGANIZED STATION. BUT WHEN BANK OF AMERICA CAME IN THIS YEAR, IT REALLY SIGNALED THE NEXT ERA OF, UH, THIS SIGNATURE RACE FOR THE THE SPORT OF RUNNING. IT HAD BEEN DECADES WITH JOHN HANCOCK AS THE PRINCIPAL SPONSOR. YOU MENTIONED BANK OF AMERICA IS THE NEW PRINCIPAL SPONSOR. UM, THIS RACE THIS YEAR EXPECTED TO RAISE $50 MILLION FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND. DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? ABSOLUTELY. AND SOME OF THOSE RUNNERS ARE STARTING TO COME IN NOW. THEY’RE MOSTLY, UH, IN THE. 2 TO 530 WINDOW WHEN MAYBE 3000 RUNNERS WHO ARE EXACTLY JUST PROBABLY FROM 175 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, UM, LAST YEAR ARE TOTAL FUNDRAISING NUMBER WAS ABOUT 40 MILLION. AND, UH, THIS THIS YEAR WHEN BANK OF AMERICA CAME IN, THEY SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, LET’S TRY TO RAISE THAT BAR. I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER IS GOING TO BE BY THE END OF THE DAY, BUT MAYBE BY THE END OF THE FUNDRAISING COMING IN TAKES A FEW WEEKS. WE HOPE TO BE, UH, APPROACHING 50 MILLION. WOW. THAT’S INCREDIBLE. I MEAN, SO MANY INCREDIBLE MOMENTS TO WITNESS WHEN YOU’RE WATCHING THE RACE. OF COURSE, THE RUNNERS, UM, AND WHAT? EVERY RUNNER HAS A STORY AND YOU GET TO LEARN SO MANY OF THEM AS THEY CONTINUE TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE AND SHARE THEM WITH US. BUT WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT BEING A PART OF THIS AND WATCHING THE MARATHON ARE. THANK YOU FOR ASKING. I THOUGHT MAYBE IF I RECEIVED THAT QUESTION TODAY, I SHOULD BE PREPARED, AND I DID REFLECT ON IT LAST NIGHT, AND IT’S REALLY THE COMMITMENT THAT EVERY INDIVIDUAL MICHAEL WHO PARTICIPATES PUTS INTO IT THEIR LOVE, THEIR OWN PASSION THAT CAN SOUND LIKE WORDS, I KNOW, BUT HAVING WITNESSED THE WAY THE BIB PACKETS COME TOGETHER, THE GOODY BAGS ARE ARE, UH, PUT TOGETHER. UM, THE WAY THE VOLUNTEERS RALLY AROUND AND REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO IT. UM, THE I’M NOT REALLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT THE WAY I HEAR SO MANY PEOPLE EXPRESS THEIR EXCITEMENT. UM, THE PASSION FOR BOSTON, FOR BOSTON IS WHAT IS SO SPECIAL FOR ME. JACK. I GOT TO ASK YOU, I’D BE REMISS IF I DIDN’T ABOUT THIS LAWSUIT THAT WAS FILED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. UM, ARE YOU CONCERNED? I KNOW THE BAR HAS HAS MADE OUTREACH WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, INVOLVING MORE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE SPORT OF RUNNING. ARE YOU WORRIED THAT THAT MIGHT OVERSHADOW THE EFFORTS THE BAR HAS, HAS PUT FORTH AND IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN SAY ABOUT THE LAWSUIT? I, I REALLY CAN’T. I MEAN, OUR FOCUS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS HAS BEEN REALLY TO HAVE A GREAT DAY FOR EVERYONE, AND JUST LOOKING BEHIND US, I WENT TO THE START THIS MORNING AND I’M HERE RIGHT NOW. I’LL BE HERE. WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, AND I TRULY HOPE IT’S A GREAT DAY FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED. PARTICIPANTS, SPECTATORS, UH, VOLUNTEERS, UH, SPONSORS, MEDIA PARTNERS. UH, EVERYONE. WELL, JACK FLEMING, WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE. IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ABSOLUTELY. THANK YOU. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMITMENT. AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT REST OF THE DAY, TOO. BEAUTIFUL WEATHER FOR US. WE’RE NOT RUNNING, BUT THAT’S