The 2014 Boston Marathon takes place this Monday, April 21, and you’ve got to be prepared. What if you meet a steamy marathoner over the weekend, as they carbo load at your favorite Italian restaurant? Or say you’re standing along sidelines, cheering for the runners, when you realize you’re also standing alongside the girl of your dreams? You don’t want them to start running 26.2 miles in the other direction because you started rambling into TMI territory. You need some fail-safe fun facts, appropriately about the Boston Marathon (your common denominator).

So, if you find yourself in this situation, don’t get tongue tied or find yourself at a loss for words – have some quick quips in your back pocket to pull out and impress whoever may be around you. Awkward pauses, meeting the parents, stuck in the elevator with a colleague you don’t know very well? Consider yourself in the clear.

– This year, the number of spectators lining the course is expected to double as supporters come out in droves to the sidelines from Hopkinton to Copley. Annually, 500,000 people come out to watch the race and this year, 1 million people are expected to show up.

– The Marathon is, in fact, the second-biggest sporting event each year in the US, second only to the Super Bowl. But, we’ll see if this year can break that record.

– More security will also be on the field after last year’s bombing attacks, with 3,500 police officers patrolling the scene this year.

– Although the Marathon is Boston’s biggest sporting event of the year, 24 of the 26.2 miles don’t even take place in Boston. Runners blaze through Greater Boston suburbs of Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline before they reach Boston proper.

– Patriot’s Day (aka Marathon Monday) is a holiday pretty unique to Massachusetts. But, we’re not the only ones who celebrate it. Maine also participates in Patriot’s Day.

– That’s because the (technical) purpose of the holiday, other than to give college students of Boston an excuse to day drink, is to commemorate the battles of Lexington and Concord.

– The Boston Marathon used to be called the American Marathon, likely because it’s the world’s oldest marathon and therefore, the first. Today, its full name is the Boston Athletic Association Marathon.

– Heartbreak Hill, one of the last hills of the race at the 20-mile mark, got its name in 1936 after defending champion John Kelley passed opponent Ellison Brown on the hill and patted him on the shoulder as he did so. Brown then defeated Kelley, breaking his heart by doing so.

– Another well-known point of the race course is the Scream Tunnel, at the 13th mile, where college students from Wellesley, (an all-girls school) gather and cheer for the runners, and try to steal a kiss. Motivational signs are replaced with messages like “I Won’t Tell Your Wife.”

– It also wasn’t all that long ago that women were able to compete in the race. They were excluded until 1972, but in 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to run after signing up under the name “K.V. Switzer.” An official tried to physically stop her at the starting line, but failed.

– Three years after women were admitted, the Boston Marathon became the first marathon to admit a wheelchair division into the race, in 1975.

– For the first time, this year, unregistered runners (known as “bandits”) won’t be permitted to unofficially run the race.

– Registered runners, however, have some money on the line. $806,000 is expected to be doled out this year to winners across the open, elite and wheelchair divisions. Another $220,000 in bonuses for breaking any records could be handed out as well.

– But winners aren’t the only ones who will receive a chunk of change. The city of Boston’s economy will receive a hearty boost, as spectators are expected to spend up to $20 million in the city while in town this weekend.

– Poland Springs, like in years past, will be the official bottled waters sponsor of the marathon, and will be handing out hundreds of thousands cups of water along the route. This year, they’ll also be donating a base amount of $250,000 to The One Fund, at Mile 19, they’ll be hosting a “Cheer Meter,” and will donate up to $10,000 more if participants reach the cheer meter goal.

Sources: Fact Monster, Wiki