Boston Marathon Adds 9,000 Slots For 2014 Race

Officials won’t say what the total field size will be.

The Boston Marathon field, which had about 27,000 runners in its 2013 field, will have 9,000 more for the 2014 race.

Boston Police commissioner Ed Davis, who became a national figure when he spoke with the media several times a day in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist bombings at this year’s race, confirmed the increase.

“There’s also going to be an increase in the number of runners,” Davis told NECN. “We have 9,000 more runners that are going to be in the field.”

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Jack Fleming, the B.A.A.’s director of marketing and communications, told Runner’s World the overall field size has not yet been determined.

“We really do need to work with all of the cities and towns and the larger, coordinating Commonwealth agencies,” Fleming said. “That is happening. However, it is too early for us to state the field size that might ultimately be set.”

This means the final number might not be 36,000.

For 2014, B.A.A. officials have invited back the 5,633 runners that reached at least the halfway point of April’s race before being halted when two bombs exploded in rapid succession near the finish line.