Boston Marathon Runners Wear Emblems to Commemorate Genocide

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BOSTON — More than 20 runners in the 119th Boston Marathon honored the history and legacy of the Armenian Genocide by running in gear with the specially designed emblem on race day to call attention to the genocide’s 100th anniversary.

This program is being coordinated by the Knights of Vartan, Ararat Lodge of Cambridge. While planning the events for the commemoration of the genocide’s centennial on April 24th, it occurred to its members that the Boston Marathon was a perfect opportunity to raise awareness.

Member Ron Sahatjian of Lexington started looking for runners of Armenian descent who were taking on the marathon this spring. Sahatjian scoured through the 30,000-plus names of runners looking for those ending with the traditional Armenian “ian” and made contact with them.

More than twenty runners eventually signed on, all willing to give up precious space on their running shirt to wear a 3-inch-by-8-inch emblem to remind people not to forget the one and half million Armenians who were killed one hundred years ago.

 

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