For those of us who live in Maine or Massachusetts, this weekend is actually a three day weekend because of Patriots’ Day. Patriots’ Day, which marks the anniversary of the first two battles of the American Revolution, is only celebrated in Massachusetts because the battles took place there and celebrated in Maine because it used to be part of Massachusetts. As a result, if you live in one of these states (or you’re a student in Wisconsin, which gives public school students the day off because who can really resist a good excuse to cancel school), you may be about to get three days off in a row. The only thing is that if you live anywhere else, you probably don’t celebrate Patriots’ Day, you’re not getting a three day weekend, you’re not passing go, and you’re thinking that this all means absolutely nothing to you. However, if you’re in the area of Maine or Massachusetts this weekend and you’re looking for something to do, here are some of the things that you should definitely check out.
First, if you can’t resist a good road race or a bunch of sweaty people running miles and miles to prove that they are in much better shape than you or I, you may want to check out the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is one of the largest long-distance running events in the world with well over 20,000 runners each year competing to be the first to run approximately 26 miles through the streets of Boston. In fact, the Boston Marathon is not only one of the world’s largest marathons, but also the world’s oldest annual marathon as the first Boston Marathon took place on April 19th, 1897. The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriots’ Day each and every year since it first began, and this year, as you might expect, is no different. More information about the Boston Marathon and the best ways to watch it can be found on the Boston Marathon’s Website.
Secondly, if you’re looking for a race that’s a little shorter than the Boston Marathon or a little closer to Portland than Boston, the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler may be the way to go. The Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler is, as you might guess, a five mile road race that takes place in Portland, Maine each year. This race, which is open to all ages, is a lot shorter, a lot younger, and a lot smaller than the Boston Marathon. However, the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler has been around for quite some time (84 years to be exact), and it is a whole lot easier to enter if you’re interested in actually running. More information on the race can be found here, and if you’re looking for information on how to prepare yourself for a race like the Boston Marathon or the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriots’ Day 5-Miler, you should definitely check out Sports Fitness Advisor’s Marathon Training Guide. Running a marathon can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not in marathon shape, but the Sports Fitness Advisor Marathon Training Guide contains a number of articles that are designed to help runners at every skill level.
If you’re more into people who are slowly marching down the street than running down the street at high speed, however, you may want to check out Lexington’s Patriots’ Day Parade. Lexington has a huge Patriots’ Day parade every year that features a fife and drums corps, marching bands, floats, dancers, color guards, veterans and a whole lot more. In fact, if you want to find out more about the parade and a number of other events in Lexington during Patriots’ Day weekend, all you need to do is check out Lexington’s Patriots’ Day Website.
If, on the other hand, you’re looking for an activity that doesn’t involve people walking or running down the street, you may want to head up (or down as the case may be) to Ogunquit, ME. Ogunquit has a huge Patriot’s Day celebration every year, and this celebration includes a wide assortment of events such as bazaars, concerts, craft shows, hay rides, kid’s crafts, kid’s games, reenactments, treasure hunts, wine tastings, and a whole lot more. For more information on Ogunquit’s Patriot’s Day Weekend celebration, which takes place all weekend long, visit Ogunquit’s Website.
Finally, if you’re just wondering why Patriot’s Day has the apostrophe before the “s” in some places and has the apostrophe after the “s” in others, the answer is that there are actually three different ways to write the name of the holiday. In fact, you can write it as “Patriots’ Day” (which is how it is typically written in Massachusetts and Wisconsin), “Patriot’s Day” (which is how it is typically written in Maine), or Patriots Day (which is how is it typically written by anyone who really just doesn’t care.) However, it doesn’t really matter which way you write it because all three ways are actually correct.