The Christmas tree that will soon make its way from Nova Scotia to Boston this year is coming from a Pictou County family that knows a thing or two about long-distance journeys.

Bill and Andrea MacEachern of Lorne are donating the 15-metre, 72-year-old white spruce, nineteen years after Bill MacEachern ran in the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon and finished in the top five per cent.

Nova Scotia's annual Christmas tree gift to Boston is shown illuminated in 2008. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)

Zach Churchill, acting minister of Natural Resources, said in a news release that MacEachern "came to know the spirit of Boston when he ran in its famous marathon and, today, he and Andrea are helping us to honour that spirit with this gift."

Boston was quick to send medical personnel and supplies after the 1917 Halifax Explosion, which killed about 2,000 people and injured thousands.

As a thank you, Halifax sent Boston a Christmas tree in 1918. In 1971, the Lunenburg County Christmas Tree Producers Association revived the gift and began an annual tradition to promote Christmas tree exports.