Departments
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Week of 23 April 1999 |
Vol. II, No. 32 |
Feature Article
103rd Boston Marathon
Newton's famous hill fails to break hearts of BU runners
By Brian Fitzgerald
"Heartbreak Hill was rough," recalls Tom Duval, coordinator for intramural and club sports at BU, after running in the 103rd Boston Marathon April 19. Duval, interviewed a day after the event and feeling "like a truck hit me," finished with a time of 3:39:10 -- not bad for a 47-year-old who ran the nation's most famous race for the first time.
Then again, Duval has run eight marathons, including Vermont City in Burlington, Newport (now Ocean State), and the Coast of Maine. But they're not as grueling as Boston, with its notorious hill in Newton.
Every Patriots' Day, Heartbreak Hill earns its nickname. Among its victims this year were three-time champion Bill Rodgers, who checked out of the race at the hill's crest, and 1998 winner Moses Tanui, who checked into a medical tent after descending the storied slope.
Several University staff, students, and alumni managed to climb Heartbreak Hill and cross the finish line. In fact, BU's involvement in the race ran the gamut, from Boston University Trustee and John Hancock President David D'Allessandro, who is credited with modernizing and revitalizing the race in 1986 with Hancock's sponsorship, to Sargent College Clinical Assistant Professor Thomas Cronan, who was one of 800 medical volunteers at the race.
"There were no major medical emergencies," says Cronan. "But runners had everything from dehydration to sore feet. I'd say that there were plenty of people walking fairly slowly the next day."
To be sure, one of those walking wounded was Duval. But he made it to work the following day. "I kept saying to myself, 'One more hill,' " he says. "I trained on Heartbreak Hill, but not after running 22 miles." Still, he had his share of supporters to keep him focused: in the crowd he recognized BU women's soccer coach Nancy Sullivan at the 23-mile mark on Beacon Street; one mile farther was Alec Southall, coordinator of special services at BU's Office of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (PERD); and then PERD Senior Program Coordinator Heidi Shore at mile 25 in Kenmore Square. "After Kenmore Square I couldn't see people in the crowd," says Duval. "I looked straight ahead. It took too much energy to look side to side."
Also completing the marathon were Jocelyn Kraus, senior regional alumni manager at BU (5:02:18), and BU Intramural and Club Sports Assistant Coordinator Amy Heinl (4:06:33). Amy Leitizia (SAR'99) with a 3:45:53 time, and Holly Lancaster (SAR'99) with a 4:27:54 finish, raised more than $1,500 for the Leukemia Society of America. Several former men's varsity soccer players also ran from Hopkinton to Copley Square: Dean Smith (SAR'99) crossed the finish line at 3:47:13, and BU's all-time scoring leader Nick Bone (SMG'97) had a 4:06:36 time. But Bryan Murphy (CAS'98) beat his former teammates with a time of 3:24:35.
Brian Quinn, Boston University's assistant men's soccer coach, who finished at 3:49:49, heard BU supporters urging him on as he ran through South Campus. And he needed the encouragement. "At the end, my quadriceps and my hamstrings were cramping up," he says. And when did this excruciating problem begin to occur? "Heartbreak Hill, of course," he laughs.