BOSTON -- Changes to the Boston Marathon will be seen this spring as it celebrates its 110-year anniversary as the oldest annual marathon in the world.

A few of the changes set for this year include doubling the size of Athletes' Village in Hopkinton, Mass., creating a two-wave start, and adding an Elite Women's start. The course will also be moved so that competitors run under the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, instead of across the bridge, in order to reduce Back Bay traffic.

The Boston Athletic Association will make the adjustments in order to address logistical complexities that have arisen over the years as the event has expanded, according to race director Dave McGillivray.

The BAA, which manages the event, hopes the changes will allow the race to run more smoothly.

"It's all about balancing the needs of the communities, the (residents), the vehicular traffic and, of course, the participants," McGillivray said. "On the management side, we need to always be sensitive to the big picture, not just one specific constituency."

The BAA, founded in 1887, was organized to promote community and healthy living through athletic events in the greater Boston area. According to BAA spokesman Jack Fleming, the main goal for the Boston Marathon is to "create the experience of a lifetime for its runners."

Fleming noted that first-time runners make up about half of the 20,000 marathon participants. The majority of first-time runners will never again compete in the race, making it even more important that the BAA manages successfully every year.

The Boston Marathon is unlike any other major marathon in that it runs through eight different cities and towns over a span of 26.2 miles. Fleming said that while this makes the race unique, it also makes management especially difficult. Essential tasks, such as transporting the 20,000 runners to the starting line in Hopkinton, become challenging since most of the runners are staying in hotels miles away in Boston.

Fleming suggested that the longevity and technical difficulty of the course make the Boston Marathon distinct from other competitive, elite marathons. Newton's "Heartbreak Hill" remains a well-known challenge by serious runners throughout the world.

L-Street Running Club's Mike Linnane said "the community, challenge, and history of the race make the Boston Marathon the best of its kind."

Boston recently joined the London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons to create the World Marathon Majors series, which will award the men's and women's winners of the two-year competition a $500,000 prize.

While the Boston Marathon will continue to maintain its independence, Fleming said, the partnership will help raise the public consciousness about competitive running and will help to expand the spectator base to include a more casual audience, which other competitive sports already possess.