J- ' -- G<. -- dger$'run c lslanders make $ me$terulece I t Boston classic Four grittY and determined IstanJers are off to Boston lsland team takes on t#1: and tomorrow ollra kind af sacred Pilgrimage-they are *t.tuO in, tn'e 83rd running.of tf* gotton $arathon. For the Marathon the Boston o*Ornttl' diitance runner' famed g*ton event is his version of I or No matter begins. bly*put. l\{ecca, Valhalla, "Boston remains the classic. t don't know what to exPect", said a ln hat have You. -#' how big the others may become, Boston re- Parker Lund' .../ .::' that marathoners most visibly excited Parker Lund. "The thought of Er+en Stiwart, ,'::;: mains The marathon runners, comhined with thousands and Lance lliron will rePresent want to run"-RUNNERS WORLD' that rnany F.g.r. in the "Masters" t"a irrouianas of f,ans, well it's too much to BY DON FERNALD " cate$orv, for runners 40 Years conceive. the 5,000 or so the elder statesman of the of afe ind over. The other en' This year, sprinkled among Ewen Stewart, "Oon that wiit starf the famed 26 mile, 385 yard sport on P.E.I. added, "I think the crowd will it1 . HarleY, wlll to ge! fY course will be four members of the P.E.I. h^ave a big impact on me, because we are all inio the race via the "bandit" obscure, but Michael Thomas Roadrunners Club. used to running without anyone watchiqtg, ."t*gory. but m?Y not be did comPete at Boston many the Lance Miron, 40, Ewen Stewart, 46, Parker much less with thousands of competitors." to run ' due to John Paul told allowed vears ago, and 29, all members of the Boston Marathon' you at the start line' he ran at Lund 40, and Don Harley "You don't run congestion irr seve"ral times Club, will run the Lund," of course our objective vear, theY had of- documentarY the P.E.I. Roadrunners race it", says LasI 1t3P Boston, but the oldest in the world-this is ihe course, that will be satisfying entries, 3,000 "ban' exPeriences course that is is to finish ficial Plus evidence to John's running of the event. in ,the race. This Yearr Anyvl'a.v*' the eighty-third enough. " d.its" are not easy to locate. Stewart are officially member team will depart early exPect uPwards of going Mir6n,- Lund and Thd four thel 'entries-a .10'000 we have three Islanders having qualified for the scheduled for a noontime start lot of bodies four.. unof- entered as starters, for the event, Jfi.i"t this year. PerhaPs masters category of a previous April 16, to get some ideas racing down one route in a this is quite an race in the Monday, -a1g..tigs f icialiy, and marathon. Harley will be running as a from olher^ runners and organizers fof' ttreir oack. achievement. runner-who has not qualified for inaugural marathon in SePtember. 'Tn. Islanders are well Stervnrt' 'bandit'-a Runners like,Ewen race, but will run the course when the HEARTBREAK HILL qualified to comPete at Boston' Liittc*) the Parker Lund, and starters have gone. "We know nothing abut the layout of the 40 and over set have nright the tfte .vears Miron, all Past'10, PTt LATE START course, says Harley, except for what we have tutt an official marathon in 3 Swede to to average cit-Year-old This marks the first time any Island con- read, parficularly- Heartbreak Hill." Heart- ht=.. 30 mins. to get in, and both collles to ^Hill shamJ when it has mad.e the trip to Boston.;. not bad breai< is a ascending slope that and Miron have' bet- Stewart, for tingent iently- Stervart physical f itness. for a club who ran their, first marathon ever can kill, off the most exPerienced tereO three hours alreadY this has been clocked in 2 exirnple, in May of 1978, less than a year earlief ! marathoner, simply because it comes at the vear. in a marathon last month for the marathan hrs., 4? mins. The American marathon record was set in 20 mile point, the niost'crucial make or break ftontreal. Parker Lund, still ii85 it distance of 26 miles, Yards' Boston by famed distance runner Bill area for most runners. bothered b-t* leg trouble, came would have been and that time Rodgers iri a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 55 "We better hope that it is fairly cool as to ttrree hours when he Stewart a .f*. gooA eno.ugh to win seconds. Another interesting note is that no well, adds Stewart, the temperatgre ca.n vary last fall at Oromocto, OlYnrPic [ualified fioltl medal at the Olympic champion has even won at Boston, greatly, and we definitely prefer it on the cool Los Angeles' NB 6u**t in l9i]2 at although eight have tried. side. " Juan Zabala of Argett- ll{arathon, held where The iourie starts in suburban Hopkinton, Whatever the outcome for these hardy The Boston tina won it in 2 hrs.,.irl tnitls', ol' through the since west of the city, and winds its way souls, the mere fact of competing . in each APril continuouslY OlYmPic Gatnes uP to has never been more i4 most several towns drnd cities before'ending at the marathon is justification enough for the long 1898. that date. All is a marathon run- popular in its long historY' Prudential Center in downtown Boston. trip. The Boston Marathon The Marathon goes MondaY'' the fans are everywhere. simply because of the tradition itrints to the jogging and long- will along the course, neis dream, and the Island runners everynody and their dogs come to rn'atch the and prestige thaf surrounds it, the bright distance running boom' But it section 319 have their own cheering annuhl pace, whether it be at the finish or orange Roadrunner t-shirts will be running has been a big event in sPorts' dozeti on hand, as about a along tde streets of their town-, and. the at- with-the worlds best-quite an accomplish- back to the 1920's anq runners are ioing of friends and fellow mosfhere is electric, even before the race ment. frl'r.''Our first recollection the to lend race dates making ,triP .h*tP the f anred Boston and sfPPort. Doubtless' there about {0 when the - back Years, will be hundreds of former health tert used in our schools Boston area. a Islanders from the in Grade Five included Pic- joining with them. ture of Johnnl' lliles, the Nova the lvon it in the But for ParticiPants' Scotia ,unn.iwho Ewen Stewart, Parker LuiicJ' earlt 193{J's. The caption under and Lance Miron, the ex- the Photo said lliles was a standing on the and perience of primi examPl. ol fitness, ^starting line. or close to it in the and lr-oided the use of alcohol vast t-hrong, on i\tondaY ai Tou can see tlre pain tobacco. be an erPerience tc in the earlY noon, wiil In later l-ears. treasure. The Boston marathotl 19{0's. Gerard Cote f rom for the distancrr Bcston race is very sPecial Quebec \ton the and just being thet'e ts rvas a threat runner, iveral times. and reward for of hard ta'crk Participatio.n a iears for rnan)' ]'ears. and sacrifice. b1- runneis frog=P E-! is at Hearthreak Hi[H , t .. .. For Bill Rodgers, his sweetest victory He's fWW a, '3-time champion By Joe Concannon Globe Staff The light, chilling rain splattered down on the pavement as Bill Rodgers and his wife, Ellen, eased their way through the lingering Boston Marathon crowd in Cleveland Circle at 3:45 yester­ day afternoon. Out on the course a steady stream of runners turned down Beacon street for the final four miles of the race. "Jack," shouted Rodgers as he spotted newscaster Jack Hynes amid the group, but there was no response as Hynes kept going, onward to the finish. His mission accomplished with a record Boston run, Rodgers was walking slowly up Chestnut Hill Avenue toward his store. First, a few fUnnerS noticed him, all but stopping and shouting out, "Great ' race, Bill." By now"tqe word was out and before he reached the entrance to his basement store, the spectators had turned their backs on the f)lnners, applauding the Marathon Man on his journey home. Up above in a balcony, a cluster of young people with beer bottles in hand saluted, "Boston Billy." A couple under an umbrella stopped to shake his hand. "It's embarrassing," said Rodgers as he finally disappeared behind a lockedl door of his ~tore, leaving the stage, once again, to the n!asses. If Frank Shorter Americanized the marathon with his gold medal run in the 1972 Munich Olympics, Rodgers has per­ sonalized ' it for the record numbers ,of Americans who are nQw running the 26- mile, 385-yard race; a commanding, romanticised presence who runs alone and walks and talks with Everyman, When he devastated one of the great­ est Marathon fields ever assembled with a gutsy and overpoweril'lg 2:09:27 run (28 seconds under his previous American record set in the 1975 Boston Marathon), Rodgers held the four fastest marathon by an American citizen and eight under 2:12, Benoit. breaks. women's mark *WOMEN. Continued from Page 1 "I've been running 85 miles a week," said Benoit, a Red Sox cap on her head with the laurel wreath around it, "but I didn't run this course in preparation.