At this time of year in Boston, a good number of people have focused on the Boston Marathon, which was a bit chilly for participants and spectators alike recently. Yet, in April of 1775, another sort of race captured the attention of folks in Massachusetts. It was a race to alarm the people that their government had taken up arms against them. Unfortunately, the history of “Paul Revere’s Ride” has been skewered a bit -- in part by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who took liberties in bypassing some important details of the calls of alarm throughout Massachusetts on April 18, 1775.