Several Locals Running in Boston Marathon

Runners are trying to stay dry as they await the start of the 2019 Boston Marathon.

The 123nd running of the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon got a wet start. But it's not as cold as expected, with temperatures in the 60s as runners arrived instead of the 30s that were initially forecast.

Several local runners are participating.

They are 34-year-old William Songock of Shreveport, 37-year-old  Amy Natalini of BAFB, 34-year-old Jason Funderburg of Farmerville, 31-year-old Kyle Davis of Shreveport, 29-year-old Andrew Gaspard of Shreveport, 41-year-old Stephen Paine of Shreveport, 60-year old Daniel Kage of Bossier City, and 63-year-old Jeffrey Thomas of Bossier City.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the deadly Boston Marathon bombings. It's the first time the anniversary date falls on the same day as the marathon.

Defending champions Des Linden and Yuki Kawauchi have said they're not bothered by the forecast for a rainy, windy day because they won last year in similar conditions. They lead a field of about 30,000 runners on the 26.2-mile (42-kilometer) trek from Hopkinton to Copley Square.