It was first held in Roxbury, a neighborhood in Boston, in 1996 and has become one of the foremost events of its type in the United States, alongside the Millrose Games.

[1] The competition is part of USA Track and Field's Visa Championship Series and attracts high-caliber athletes, including Olympic and World medalists.

[1] Among them are performances by Ethiopian runner Tirunesh Dibaba, who set a world indoor record over 5000 metres in 2005 and improved that mark in 2007.

[47] At the 2012 meeting, Jenn Suhr broke her own American record in the pole vault, clearing 4.88 m to become the second-highest vaulter of all time.

[48] In 2021, the event was relocated to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York as due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Boston venue was serving as a mass vaccination site.