Bostonians unite for emotional marathon finish-line photo shoot

Bostonians unite for emotional marathon finish-line photo shoot

Published Apr. 12, 2014 11:49 a.m. ET

Sports Illustrated invited all Bostonians to participate in a “Boston Strong” cover photo shoot, and they responded in force at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Thousands of citizens, led by Mayor Marty Walsh and the city’s first responders to last year’s marathon bombing, sported their best Boston gear Saturday as they gathered at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth streets in the wee hours of the morning to start the production.

“If you look at last year’s cover photo, you see all that empty space all the way down Boylston Street filled by smoke and that backdrop of chaos and destruction,” SI managing editor Chris Stone told Inside Sports Illustrated. “This year’s photo fills those spaces with the Bostonians who wrote the Boston Strong story.”

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Bostonians were packed in tight quarters from the finish line in Copley Square all the way to Exeter Street. The SI cover is scheduled to hit newsstands April 16. This year’s Boston Marathon will be run April 21.

Check out photos of the event below.

#WeWillRun video lifts spirits as marathon nears

David Ortiz recalls how Red Sox, Boston rallied together

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