Media Access

Press Credentials Distribution

Members of the media will be asked to furnish valid press identification and sign a liability waiver before credentials are distributed in the State Suite. There will be no exceptions. There are eight credentialed press areas: general access, photo start area, men’s press truck, men’s TV truck, women’s press truck, women’s TV truck, course, and photo bridge. Media personnel receiving credentials for the press trucks, photo start area, or photo bridge will also be allowed admittance to the press room and press conferences. The B.A.A. reserves the right to grant or revoke any press credentials. Media representatives will be required to sign a B.A.A. waiver and release upon receipt of their credentials. Media personnel who are assigned photo bridge credentials will also be required to provide their Social Security numbers (or foreign equivalent) prior to taking receipt of the credentials. Also, access to certain other areas may require media to provide additional information other than what is needed on the credential application (online and hard copy).

Press Rooms

On race day, the press rooms are located in the Fairmont Copley Plaza’s Oval and Venetian Rooms. These
large rooms are equipped with tables, telephone lines, the marathon tracking board, and television monitors.
Any media outlet requiring the use of an exclusive phone line must make arrangements directly with Verizon.
Please call Verizon Temporary Services (1-800-941-9900), and then inform the B.A.A. of your plans in order
for your line to be designated within the room. The Venetian Room serves as an overflow area, containing
various services including refreshments, race results, fax machines, Internet kiosks, and additional television
monitors. A buffet luncheon will be served.
Press room hours are 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20

Internet Access

Members of the media can retrieve select Boston Marathon competitor entry lists through the Official Boston Marathon website. Following the race on April 20, results will be posted.

The address is: http://www.baa.org/news-and-press.aspx
username: press
password: 119media

Media Transportation to the Start

Transportation to the start will be provided for media members who:

• have been issued the appropriate credentials for either the men’s or women’s press trucks or photo start area;
• wish to view the start and return to Boston.

The media buses will depart for Hopkinton at 7:15 a.m. from Trinity Place & Stuart Street, behind the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. The men’s press truck will depart Hopkinton ahead of the men’s leaders and precede the competitors along the entire race route. Those holding proper press credentials will board the men’s press truck by 9:15 a.m. in Hopkinton, on Route 135 near the starting line. Those members of the media receiving credentials for the women’s press truck will need to be aboard the vehicle in Hopkinton by 9:00 a.m. For members of the media who are returning immediately to Boston, the buses will depart Hopkinton, Main Street across from the Fire Station, at approximately 10:10 a.m. The buses will not return to Boston in time to view the finishes of the wheelchair or women’s elite races. Please request a bus ticket when you pick up your credentials. (Note: Seating is limited in the finish line press area. Members of the media who view the race start and later return for the finish cannot be guaranteed seating and should not plan to see the finish from the designated press seating area in the bleachers.)

Media Agreement, Waiver, and Acknowledgement

In consideration of accepting any credentials, you hereby for yourself, your heirs, executors, and administrators waive and release any and all rights and claims for damage you may have against the Boston Athletic Association, its employees and vendors, USA Track and Field, the Sponsors (including, but not limited to John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.), the volunteers, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or the Cities and Towns in which the race is contested, their representatives, successors, and assigns for any and all injuries suffered by you with respect to the Boston Marathon.

Additionally, you and the outlet to which you belong agree to adhere to the B.A.A. Internet and News Access Guidelines (available during Race Week in the State Suite Room, Fairmont Copley Hotel). WBZ-TV and Universal Sports are the local and domestic rights holders. An agreement to these guidelines is necessary for distribution of credentials.