Students Hustle to Finish Line

Patriots Day is not an official holiday at Harvard, but a group of toned and conditioned students took the day off from classes yesterday to participate in the 104th running of the Boston Marathon.

Despite chilling winds and periods of light rain in the afternoon, marathon organizers have said a record number of runners--17,813--participated this year.

Theodore B. Shybut '00 was among the group of official runners who had to qualify for the race in advance. His 2:45:28 finish was among the quickest of all Harvard student participants, many said.

Kenyan runner Elijah Lagat, in comparison, won the race with a time of 2:09:47.

Finishing the grueling 26.2 mile course came as sweet relief to Lewis Shi '00, who said he spent this fall juggling thesis-writing and training for the marathon. He finished with a time of 3:00:50.

To avoid yesterday's winds, which at times reached 13 miles per hour, Shi said he devised an ingenious plan. "I kept ducking behind the taller people, trying to run right behind them," he said.

He said without the wind, he might have been able to lower his time to under three hours.

Although Shi had officially registered for the event, some Harvard students decided to participate as "bandits"--unofficial runners who start out at the tail end of the pack.

Several of those "bandits" recount tales of having to battle their way through the crowd of nearly 18,000 runners for at least 15 minutes before even reaching the starting point.

"For the first half a mile, were just walking, trying hard to be able to move at all," said Katharine M. Holt '02, who finished the race in about four hours and 15 minutes.

"I'm sure we ran more than 26.2 miles, we just had to keep weaving in and out at first," said Matthew Milikowsky '02, a member of the varsity crew team.

Milikowsky said he and a group of his friends decided to run only a few weeks ago and trained for only a week and a half.

Despite his brief training regimen and 15-minute wait behind the starting line, Milikowsky said he completed the race with a time of only 3:37.

He said he would not have been able to make it to the finish line without the hoards of screaming fans on the sidelines.

He said he and his friends particularly enjoyed the outpouring of support they received as they neared Wellesley College, which marks the halfway point of the race.

"It seemed like every Wellesley undergraduate was out there," he said. "It really gets you pumped up."

R. Graham F. O' Donoghue '01, who ran with Milikowsky, also remembers the run past Wellesley with a particular fondness.

"The town just goes wild, and Wellesley is always a hot spot" he said. "The girls were all out there screaming."

Although Katharine Holt admitted Wellesley's feminine wiles were lost on her, she said she appreciated the outpouring of support.

"I'm not a guy, but Wellesley was still really fun," Holt joked. "You could hear the fans before you could see them. They were slapping hands and screaming their heads off."

Shouts of encouragement and blasting music also helped the runners climb the infamous Heartbreak Hill--a steep part of the course in Newton.

"That was the most physically painful part of the race, but I saw a lot of Harvard people, which was a big pick-me-up," Milikowsky said.

Shi says he wrote his first name on the front of his shirt so fans could cheer him on by name.

"It was nice to get the crowd behind me," he said.

As the runners neared the end of the race, the large numbers of Harvard fans, including a tailgate around Cleveland Circle, helped distract the athletes from their pain.

"I was smiling for most of the last five miles," says James T. Platts '01, who is also a Crimson editor. "It was really a terrific way to finish."

When they crossed the finish line in Copley Square, runners were greeted with water and blankets.

Some said they only began to notice the afternoon's chill once they reached the end of the 26.2 mile course.

"I was a little blue when I got back," Holt said.

O'Donoghue said he was impressed that so many people had volunteered to greet runners when they finished.

"I just hugged both of the guys I ran with and limped over to get some water," he said. "It was total joy."