Restoring the Vision…Preserving the Legacy
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Emerald Necklace

Somewhere between miles 1 and 13 try to forget the aching in your feet and the stiffness in your side and take a moment to look around and enjoy the landscape before you -- the spectacular hills, meadows and waterways of the Emerald Necklace.

What BAA Half Marathon runners are fortunate to experience is what Frederick Law Olmsted intended when he created this unique linear park system - a place where “the parkway would create a sure route from the heart of the city a distance of six miles into its suburbs” and where the beauty of landscape would transform the spirit.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy is working to permanently re-establish Olmsted’s vision of a pleasure route with distinctive landscapes, waterways, bridges and other structures. The Conservancy is also working to provide safe connections for runners, bicyclists and pedestrians to and through the parks, and to reinforce the Emerald Necklace as a continuous green/open space system. Its work program also focuses on parks restoration and maintenance, public education and outreach, volunteer parks improvement programs, review of projects proposed in and around the parks, and other activities. The Conservancy’s programs and funding support and complement initiatives by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City of Boston and Town of Brookline who began the Emerald Necklace’s restoration in the 1980s.