Mayor Walsh, Meb Keflexighi & Bill Rodgers Helped Unveil the 2015 Boston Marathon Street Banners
This past Thursday, Mayor Marty Walsh along with the 2014 Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi and four-time Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers unveiled the banners for the 2015 Boston Marathon. Each year, approximately 500 banners are hung through the city, generally going up a month prior to the actual race.
“I am proud to help unveil this year’s Boston Marathon banners, honoring our City’s resilience and spirit,” said Mayor Walsh. “This year’s marathon will once again unite Boston as the strong community we are.”
The theme for this year’s banners’ is “There’s Only One Boston.” The theme is aimed at celebrating the unique spirit of the Boston Marathon and the city of Boston itself. The banners will feature images representing various marathon communities include — including elite athletes, qualifying runners, non-profit runners, push rim competitors, volunteers and fans — as well as facts about the city and Boston Marathon, highlighting the history and legacy of the race.
The 2015 race also marks the thirtieth year that Boston’s John Hancock has been the principal sponsor of the race.
“There is only one Boston Marathon and as we witnessed last year, we are stronger than ever before,” said James Gallagher, general counsel and chief administrative officer, John Hancock. “The Boston Marathon is built on a foundation of courage, determination and strength of literally hundreds of thousands of people…runners, spectators, volunteers, organizers, public safety and community officials. Our collective participation in the Boston Marathon each year demonstrates that our determination to overcome challenges knows no bounds.”
Creating a digital time capsule for the 2015 race
In addition to unveiling this year’s banners, the event last week also announced that John Hancock is creating a digital time capsule. The capsule will allow users to submit photos, videos and stories by using the hashtag #WeRunTogether from either Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook. John Hancock announced that for each submission it receives it will donate $1 to the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, up to $26,200. The time capsule is accessible at JHExtramile.com. Here is a recent example from John Hancock’s Twitter account:
In honor of the insurer’s 30th year of sponsoring the Marathon, John Hancock will be highlighting 30 of the most inspirational stories on both Facebook and Twitter daily until Marathon Monday, April 20th.
More About John Hancock Financial and Manulife
John Hancock Financial is a division of Manulife, a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia,Canada and the United States. Operating as Manulife in Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, our group of companies offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners.
Assets under management by Manulife and its subsidiaries were C$691 billion (US$596 billion) as at December 31, 2014. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSA, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife can be found on the Internet at Manulife.com.
