Boston Winners' Wreath Ceremony turns 40

In 1984, Peter Agris of the Alpha Omega Council and Tim Kilduff, then Race Director of the B.A.A., worked with Governor Michael Dukakis and Boston Mayor Ray Flynn to arrange for olive wreaths from Greece to be presented to the winners of the Boston Marathon.

The olive wreath tradition represents the ideals for which the citizen-soldiers fought in Marathon over 2,500 years ago: freedom, individual dignity, and the power of democracy.

Sponsored today by Alpha Omega, the Consulate General of Greece in Boston and the 26.2 Foundation, this tradition and simple but potent symbol connects the ancient and modern worlds and recognizes the contributions of the ceremony’s founders to the fundamental connection between the Boston Marathon and Greece.