in hopkinton, massachusetts.thon. 118th boston marathon is under way behind me. they have been starting for about an hour and a half in steady waves. you can see a pack of people right there. they're getting ready to begin the elite women, the elite men. the people who will win the race are on the course right now making the mad dash toward boylston street in downtown boston. of course, this race, this year is really a year like none other. 36,000 runners will be on the course. security like we have never seen before. unprecedented. some 3,500 security personnel, cameras, dogs, really much more intense than ever seen for obvious reasons following what happened here last year. but today, very much a celebration. and i'm joined here in hopkinton by two of the 36,000 participants in the boston marathon. brian hurr and mary murphy. brian, you have run 24 boston marathons. today's your 25th and starting in five minutes. mary, you have run several marathons yourself. great to have you here. brian, let me start with you

hopkinton. is a big day for the city. people take off work, skip school, all to cheer on all of these runners. >> all right, mark, thank you. this city has admirers all over the world because of the way it responded to last year's bombings. new york's cardinal timothy dolan is one of boston's fans and we spoke with him on "face the nation" yesterday. >> what has inspired you about the people of boston? >> boston has risen up from carnage, from death, from darkness, to the most nauseating type of attack on a civilized society in an event that brings people together. they have risen from that. and the victims of that their families, the whole boston community has reminded us once again the message of easter. life is stronger than death. hope is stronger than despair. and we're not going to let this evil, we're not going to let this evil destroy us. life goes on. >> and now boston mayor, martin walsh, is here. mayor walsh, good to see you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me this m

it will happen right behind me here in hopkinton, massachusetts.excited i am to be here, how excited everyone is around here. still, security is extremely tight. race organizers calling this the safest place on the planet, one year after three people were killed, hundreds more injured by two bombs at the finish line. i'm joined now by andy duchesne, operations director for the boston marathon. andy, as i said, everyone, including me, so excited for this race today. you've done 19 of these. you do say the security is unprecedented. >> yeah, absolutely. it's beyond anything we've ever done before, but it's still going to be a family-friendly place and i think we'll still get the runners off safely and efficiently, so. >> what differences will we see and maybe we won't see in terms of security? >> sure. well, you're certainly going to see more security personnel, more military, state police mps and national guard mps, but there's a level of security that's draped on all of this as well that you're not really going to see. so additional cameras, like y

one man will you not see running from hopkinton to copley square is a guy who finished the 26.2 milete more than a dozen times before. why? this year he has other responsibilities. >> at 4:45 a.m. every day, bill evans goes for a seven-mile run. then he goes to work. as boston's police commissioner. >> that's the bit from last year. >> that is the one i wore last year. >> evans has run the boston marathon 18 times. this year, he is in charge of protecting it. he took the job as commissioner full-time in january, after three decades on the force. >> that's the finish line right there. >> yeah. >> and last week his marathon preparations entered the final stages. evans took us inside his department's command center. >> eyes everywhere. >> this is not just one stadium and one place this say 26.2 mile route. how much more difficult does that make it for you? >> it's very difficult. again, this is a soft target. there's eight cities and towns here that are involved. if it's a stadium, you can warn people going into stadiums, you can check bags. 26.2 miles, is a lot of yardage to cover. but

you're looking right now at the starting line of hopkinton, massachusetts. it started one minute ago, at 7:00 a.m. pacific, 10:00 eastern. >> the security will be tight. but he doesn't want the 26.2-mile route to be a militarized zone. >> and they're expecting so many more runners. 10,000, to be exact. more than last year on this patriots day in boston. >> boston strong. >>> let's get to the breaking story for our viewers in the west. a teenage boy stowed away in the wheel well to hawaii on sunday. is surviving that flight humanly possible? david kerley joins us with the latest. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, george. this is a long flight from california to hawaii and at high altitude. it's an unbelievable story almost of survival and a potentially terrifying breach of security. this morning, the fbi says a 16-year-old boy hitched a 2,300-mile ride across the pacific in the wheel well of a packed plane, despite a lack of oxygen at 38,000 feet and temperatures far below zero. >> the juvenile was approached by airline personnel and asked him w

we have got 36,000 runners starting in hopkinton. the marathon will come back the way it always best marathon in the world. bill: the governor is talking about making sure it remains a family-friendly fun event. >> right. bill: how do you do that? >> we, again, you know, you bring in a lot of tactical assets but you hide them the best you can. you don't want people coming to the race and being intimidated by, you know, officers out there with rifles or with their tactical gear on. so, there's a fine balance. you want to secure the race but you don't want people to feel walking to the barrier line and watching the race, you don't want to scare them off. this is always been a great day in the city. we've run this 116 times without incident. and you know, it is patriot's day in the city. it is usually a fun day, a family day. that is the way we want to keep it. bill: you doubled the number of police officers. you have at least, what, 500 plain clothes officers at the finish line, at the starting. >> right. bill: what was your chief conc

the marathon starts in hopkinton, massachusetts. the route goes through several towns before reaching boston. the finish line at boylston. the mobility division and three waves of runners have already started the race. >>> history will be in the air over the bay area today as a pair of world war ii planes visit the hayward airport this week. one of them is a b-17. look at that. used in the movie memphis bell. now, the other is a p-51 must take. they help protect the bombers as they flew over europe during world war ii. you may see the planes in the air as they are taking local media -- i missed that one -- on a tour. on saturday and sunday, though, the public can take tours of the plane. flights will be sold for $450 a person. the money raised helps keep piece beautiful planes flying. >>> the san jose sharks have a 2-0 lead against the kings after a very impressive comeback game last night. >> to the net and he scores! >> joe pavelski went crazy. the sharks were down 2-0. but they scored seven unanswered goals, tori. >> wow. >> they

race at 10:00 empty morning in hopk hopkinton and ends where the finish line is.t the finish line earlier today and boylston street. this is when you know and you feel the excitement and energy in the air, people are walking around, the 36,000 by the way runners who will be running tomorrow morning. they're out and about here in boston, proudly wearing their boston marathon jackets. 36,000, 9,000 more than last year. that includes many of them who either did not finish last year, many of them who were injured because of those bombings and that includes one man i met earlier today who actually ran boston, the first marathon last year, running it for friend brad with leukemia and he made the commitment at mile 17 to do it again and then he was crossing the finish line barely remembers it because he was there when the blast went off. here he is. >> all of a sudden everything changed. it was this huge flash, incredibly loud noise. you know? i felt my foot get knocked sideways. i was pushed sideways. and it felt like i had been hit by a truck. and as i turned, i turned

the record was set in 1996 for the 100th running of the race. 100,000 people will start in hopkintonend on boylston street where three people were killed last year. there is a lot of security. you see cops everywhere around the common and toward where the race is set up. there will be 40-some-odd checkpoints. so if you are coming to watch the race leave certain things in your car or home like big purses, backpacks, strollers. anything that can carry something larger than a one-liter bag will be checked. you can bring them. but racer aren't allowed to have backpacks with them. they can have a fan any pack with water, supplies, vitamins and things. they want people to see security but don't want people worrieded about safety here. the boston police commissioner says it will be one of the safest places in the country if not on the planet tomorrow. >> weather, 64 and mostly sunny tomorrow. sounds like a beautiful day. what celebrations are planned for after the race? >> there are a couple of official parties. a lot of folks go to fenway for a celebration there of. there is an after party

so your easter forecast for some select cities on this easter sunday, hopkinton, massachusetts, beautiful. egg harbor, new jersey, 59. lily, kentucky, checking in at 78 degrees. two egg, florida, 73 and easter, texas, they'll be celebrating temperatures in the low 70s. that's a look at your national forecast. >> and i'll have a look at the all-important boston marathon race day forecast next half hour. it's heating up a little bit. >> that's good though. >> not always good. >> okay. i always want to call you cecily tyson. do you get that? >> all the time. >> she will now. she will now. >> thanks. >>> all right, coming up on "gma," meth mansion bust. police raiding a million-dollar lakefront home and arrest the owner. in this story it soups a lot like "breaking bad." >>> and what happened when baby george met the beast australia calls the easter bunny? highlights from the royal romp down under. >>> the dog is gone. no, literally, the dog is gone. he keeps getting out of the backyard. so his owner put a camera on him to see how he's making his great escape. how he did it up in "pop news." y

boylston and newbury street is going to be very safe, and don't forget hopkinton where it starts and the 26-mile journey into boston. is it going to be incredible, but plenty of security, and a great plan in place to make sure that everybody has a great safe day today. >> and no doubt. all of our hearts and minds will be with you there. thank you so much, boston's mayor martin walsh joining us. >>> and now no the newsfeed this morning. the fbi is calling it a miracle that a 16-year-old boy survived an entire flight in the wheel well of a hawaiian flight. he got on the plane from san diego and flew 2300 miles over the pacific to maui after a fight with the family. he faced freezing temperatures and low oxygen levels and he was unconscious most of the time, but the fbi is wanting to know how he breached security in san jose, and no charges so far. >>> and a frightening end to people in easter sunday at a mass in fort myers, florida, a car plowing into the church. none of the people were injured. the driver said that her brakes failed. >> and now sherpas are considering a boycott after

she's in hopkinton this morning near the starting line. natalie, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, matt. as you can imagine as the runners start to arrive here, a lot of excitement, a lot of energy. emotions and security at all-time highs here. but meanwhile, as you can imagine, people just gearing up, getting ready for the race of a lifetime. many saying this is the time to take the marathon back and to prove to the world what it means to be boston strong. by the numbers, this will be the largest and most advanced security presence in boston marathon history. 3,500 law enforcement officers, twice as many as last year. 40 checkpoints in boston alone, as well as over 100 security cameras feeding back to the mobile command center for the massachusetts state police. >> the technology is newer in here. the capability is obviously better. the communications are seamless. >> a massive, highly coordinated effort so that the focus of the day returns to the marathon itself and those competing in it. i'm here at the boston marathon expo,

. >> yeah, the second part of my day, i started in hopkinton, and i came in to tape the finishers as i put together a finishing lines scene video from the winners of the race through, but the core of the video was the late afternoon hours when the fir first-time marathoners are coming across and the charity runners and those are the people who are most interesting to me when they come across the finish line, because they are letting out the raw emotion, and maybe running for a loved one who died of a disease and so many great charities contribute to the marathon, and i was there, and i was trying to get the footage of a day that is, you know, a very nondescript marathon day. it with was not hot, and no world records broken and perfect and beautiful day out for running, and not a lot of story lines and then that obviously changed quickly. i planted myself in the spot right on the finish line a little bit to the right and i kept the camera rolling when you saw that first explosion go off. >> changed quickly and forever. as you point out, there is a story today, and it does not involve,

you can take a look from above as people begin to gather out at the start out in hopkinton.ndertaking in any event to go through eight communities. they are expecting a million people lining the route as this marathon goes on through the day. and a field, the largest in 20 years, some 36,000 runners. and they said that nothing was going to keep them away, whether they were first timers or veterans, they really wanted to be here. we visited with some of them at the annual pasta dinner carb loading before today's marathon. and they said that maybe some friends and family were a little bit worried about their staffty in this but they were not. >> as soon as that bomb went off, i thought, there's nothing going to stop me from coming back this year. no, this is more than just a race this year. we're here to prove a point. >> reporter: take a look at some of the security that you can see. we were wandering around a little bit on boylston near the finish line with more cameras visible, certainly a decent police presence. but as i said, they are trying to make it accessible just the

people lace up their running shoes and assemble on main street in the royal new england town of hopkinton to confront the long road ahead at the start of the 2014 boston marathon. for the next 26 miles the runners will confront head on the challenge of pushing themselves to their personal limits and beyond. but if you've ever participated in a marathon or if you're just cautiously considering one, you know that getting ready to go the distance doesn't begin at the starting line. training begins months in advance, making sure to eat the right foods, staying hydrated and putting in weekly miles. but that physical training is only part of the preparation. the challenge of running a marathon is being able to summon the will to push past fear. fear of one's own limitations, fear of not finishing or finishing last, fear of pain, of injury. of course we know that in this year's boston marathon, there's at least one fear that all of the participants will collectively confront, because monday will be the first boston marathon since the 2013 race when two homemade bombs planted at the finish line k

our john berman live in hopkinton, massachusetts.w what you're hoping will be the best. how is it up there, j.b.? >> reporter: it is the best. spirits incredibly high here, chris. i see nothing but smiles on everyone's face. i was talking to the operations director a short while ago. you could see him bursting with anticipation of the race to get going. many starting ways, why? because 36,000 runner lou dobbs in this year's race. that's up 9,000 from last year. and they'll be running amidst incredibly tight security. as you said, unprecedented in many places. officials calling this is the safest place on earth today. in just the last few minutes i saw state police behind me. i saw national guard. i saw helicopters flying overhead. this is in addition to what we're not seeing. what we're not meant to see, 100 cameras, more than ever before, lining the route monitoring almost all of this race course. you can't monitor every inch of a 26.2-mile race. but they have sights and eyes on all the key locations. they are confident this will go

nearly 36,000 runners gathered in the little rural massachusetts town of hopkinton to take part in historytigious road race in the world. but for so many, this year's boston marathon was about so much more than running. carmen okabo was in that crowd again. last year, she was just minutes from competing her first marathon when the bombs went off. carmen's family was at the finish line, including her sister celeste and niece sydney. both were critically injured. sydney's femoral artery severed. celeste ultimately lost both of her legs. their recovery began side by side in a boston hospital room. and continues today. >> i miss my legs. it's plain and simple. and there's nothing anybody can do except hold me, let me cry, and let me work through it. >> yes! >> they've been called boston strong. >> yes! >> woohoo! >> they call themselves corcoran strong. but as i've witnessed over the past year, their courage and humor -- >> and she sticks the landing! >> go beyond labels. >> the first thing she said when i saw her without her legs for the first time, i just looked at her and she said, i can't