Boston Marathon to Accept Extra 9,000 Runners for 2014 Race

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Marathon will accept an extra 9,000 runners for next year's race.

The expanded field of 36,000 will have room for the 5,624 who were invited back because they were stopped on the course when two bombs went off at the finish line this year. It will also allow many to run to honor the victims of the explosions that killed three and injured hundreds more.

The Boston Athletic Association says registration for the 2014 race will open Sept. 9 and continue through the week. Those with faster times will have the first chance to register.

Next year's race would be the second largest in the 118-year history of the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. The 100th anniversary race in 1996 had a field of more than 38,000.