Today's the day; An extra special start.

Byline: Donna Boynton

HOPKINTON -- When Kara Centola explains to people where she lives, she proudly says exactly 26.2 miles from Boston.

Hopkinton is your typical small town, the center marked by a town common with a gazebo, the green lawn crisscrossed by brick walkways and surrounded by historic homes.

Main Street is marked with local enterprises: the family-owned grocery store, Collela's Supermarket; the community pharmacy, Hopkinton Drug; and the coffee shop, Hopkinton Gourmet, in small house on Main Street serving locally brewed Red Barn Coffee.

It's the type of town where everyone knows everybody else, where their children attend the same schools from kindergarten through high school, where ponytailed moms in ball caps and athletic clothes push their children in strollers on town sidewalks for their morning exercise.

But for all its charm and character, it's defined the world over by one thing.

"We're known mostly as the start of the Boston Marathon,'' Ms. Centola said as she served customers from behind the counter of Hopkinton Gourmet. "The best part about this time of year is hearing all of the marathon stories from the runners.''

The town is marked with subtle signs of its link to the Boston Marathon -- the paintings of the starting line and appreciation plaques hang on the walls of local businesses, and a small brick in the common etched with "John Kelley Crossing.''

There are less subtle signs, too -- the bronze statue of the father-son running team of Dick and Rick Hoyt outside the Center School, and the sign on the Common that reads: "Welcome to Hopkinton. It all starts here.''

"This time of year, Hopkinton takes front and center. We are out there sprucing it up and shining it up,'' said Beth Graubart, a local resident who has run the marathon a few times herself.

In the days leading up to the marathon, banners are unfurled outside Main Street businesses to welcome and cheer runners, some of whom are their neighbors, others strangers from a host of nations. Crosswalks and fire hydrants receive a fresh coat of paint, and the starting line is laid across Route 135.

"People are excited to show that Hopkinton is the start of the marathon, that we are Boston Strong, that people are resilient and nothing is going to stop them from running,'' Mrs. Graubart said.

She said her son and husband were at the finish line last year, and for three nerve-wracking hours, as she worked at Hopkinton Drug, she was unable to reach them by...