Heartbreak Hill lives up to its name amid balmy Boston Marathon

NEWTON, Mass. — Heartbreak Hill in Newton.

Its long steady climb after 20 miles of running, is the place where Boston Marathon ambitions can go to die.

But it’s also the place where crowds of well-wishers loudly will runners and cyclists to keep going, to Boston.

“This is the best spot, just seeing people like almost give up sometimes and keep going it’s amazing,” said Stephanie Dantos of Brighton.

Karen and Joe Mullen of West Roxbury watched the Marathon at Heartbreak Hill.

They were looking for their son’s Los Angeles roommate who is running Boston for the second time.

“How is he doing?” Boston 25 News Reporter Bob Ward asked.

“Right now he’s at mile 18.5 so he’s on his way,” Karen Mullen said. “If he can get up this hill, he’ll be good.”

Through an app, they monitored his progress from Hopkinton, when suddenly, they spotted him.

It was a moment Marathons are made of.

“It was awesome. And I know he needed a boost on that hill, so he’s gotta start running faster!” Karen said.

Further up Heartbreak, Cordelia Bemis, a former marathon runner herself, is waiting for her daughter.

“I’ve ran many marathons and half marathons. I know what it is. And this is awesome that we were able to come today,” Bemis said.

A big change on Heartbreak Hill this year: new metal barriers which are sideling spectators, but not dampening enthusiasm along the Marathon’s most notorious stretch.

“Having the barriers up has really helped us controlling the crowds and making sure people aren’t going out there and nobody gets hurt. The runners aren’t getting hurt, and the spectators aren’t getting hurt,” Newton Police Chief John Carmichael told me.

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