Boston Marathon: Line

The sleepy rural town of Hopkinton. No Starbucks, no McDonald's, no Dunkin' Donuts, no chain of any kind.

All year long, the start and finish lines of the Boston Marathon remain on the street; repainted freshly each year. You can see them from space here.

In Hopkinton, the Start is across the street from the town green, where there's a gazebo where a band sometimes plays and Santa comes to visit children at Christmastime.

In Boston, the Finish is on the long stretch of Boyston St., amongst the shadows of the Prudential Center and John Hancock towers, a block from the Back Back shopping district of Newbury Street, and feeling about a million miles (26.2 to be exact) from the Hopkinton town center.