Large crowds Saturday will continue Sunday with panelists, fitness classes and music ahead of Monday’s Boston Marathon.
Excitement is in the air this weekend at Copley Square as thousands of visitors and New Englanders descend on Boston to get ready for the 125th annual Boston Marathon.
"I know this race is going to be a big race. It's going to be really important to some people because it's really important to them,” argued 8-year-old Ramzy Shadid, who plans to attend the race with his father as a spectator on Monday.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
The race is important for people like Ed Giordano, one of the marathon’s logistics crew members who was working on realigning the steel crowd barriers on Boylston Street.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
There was a time Giordano was on the other side of the barricade as a runner; he’s been a part of 15 marathons.
“It's Boston. It's been around 125 years,” he said. "So being a part of this is truly a privilege."
Giordano is making sure runners like Meagan Gottlich and run buddy Juhi Shah are taken care of once they cross the storied finish line.
Boston Marathon Stories
“There's never been a Boston [marathon] in October so you got to do the iconic one and say you did it,” said Shah.
Then there are the spectators who are happy to see things return to a certain normal. The scaled down race with new rules for COVID-19 isn’t dampening Ramzy’s father spirit.
"Two years we've been waiting for this. It's a nice tradition even when you're not running, but seeing it coming back to life and seeing people going back to running is just going to be beautiful,” said Hosni Shadid.
Click here for everything you need to know about Monday's first-ever fall Boston Marathon.
