The 107th running of the Boston Marathon is on Monday.
When the starting cannon goes off at noon, SOME 350 runners from the Granite State will attempt the historic 26.2-mile course.
NHPR correspondent Brian McWilliams caught up with a few of them.
With the world's most famous marathon practically in their back yards, many New Hampshire runners find it hard to resist the allure of the Boston Marathon.
Take Amherst resident Stanley Vancelette.
The 66-year-old mechanical engineer has run the race every year since 1977 -- one of the longest streaks around.
"I look forward to Boston. I guess because I've been doing it for so many years, it's kind of like spring coming, just something you do every year." [:10]
Meanwhile, one of New Hampshire's speediest middle-distance runners will return to the fabled Boston course for the first time in over 20 years.
Durham native Mike O'Brien frequently wins area races between three and six miles long.
But the 42-year-old business analyst hasn't run a marathon since 1995.
And O'Brien's last Boston effort was as a senior in college.
"Boston has such a reputation, and it's pervasive even up here in New Hampshire among the running community and the non-running community. When you're in a work environment and people hear you're a runner, they ask whether you are running Boston this year. Even though they don't really know anything about running, they know Boston is something special." [:18]
O'Brien is pretty special too.
He's the only New Hampshire runner among the 100 or so WORLDWIDE granted "elite" status this year at Boston.
But O'Brien is trying to take a low-key approach.
He and wife Cathy Schiro-O'Brien, a former Olympic marathoner FROM DOVER, just had their second child in February.
And he started a new job three weeks ago.
"Because of where I am in my running career, it doesn't feel like there's pressure. If I don't run a good time, I'll just slow down and try to enjoy the event a little bit more. And then hopefully be proud of what I've done, or chuckle and say wow, that was a bad idea." [:20]
If O'Brien has a good day, however, he is capable of running Boston in around 2 hours and twenty-something minutes.
That could earn him a top-five spot in the Masters category.
Lynn Mueller of Lancaster says you don't have to take home a trophy to be richer from running Boston.
Mueller is one of the top women from New Hampshire competing at Boston this year, with a qualifying time of three hours and seven minutes.
The 39-year-old graphic designer says anyone who attempts the race comes away with indelible memories.
"You can remember the people frying burgers right by the road at mile four. And you can remember the person who called out your name. You have all these snapshot memories, and I still have memories of seeing my family at the corner of Boylston and Exeter. And it was just the most wonderful experience, seeing them there and approaching the finish line. I was so happy I had tears in my eyes." [:28]
Concord native Kevin Beck has been the first New Hampshire runner across the Boston finish line for the past two years.
But Beck is setting his sites even higher THIS YEAR.
The 33-year-old is hoping to use Boston to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials next February.
To make it, Beck says he will have to finish in around 2 hours and 22 minutes -- close to his Boston personal best.
But Beck, who's a senior writer for Running Times magazine, says he's trying not to put too much pressure on himself.
"Excitement has to be carefully allotted out in a race that takes anywhere from low two hours to five or six hours for some people. It's not like getting pumped up for a series of bench presses or a 100-yard dash. Too much adrenalin early on will just kill you." [:18]
Portsmouth native Terri Moyer has been doing some pre-race psyching as well.
Moyer has run 28 marathons, twelve of them in Boston. She's one of the Granite State's top-seeded female masters this year.
But Moyer, a math teacher at Derryfield School in Manchester, injured her knee in a January accident.
And she admits that even experienced marathoners have doubts in the final days before the big race.
"It's hard. With all the worrying what the weather is going to be like, and am I going to get sick. Am I going to be able to do this. There's a lot of questioning. And so even though it gets easier after running several marathons, it's still never comfortable or predictable." [:23]
ONE THING IS PREDICTABLE?.
THE BOSTON MARATHON BEGINS MONDAY AT NOON COME RAIN OR SHINE.
AND 20 THOUSAND RUNNERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN PLACE AT HOPKINTON TO TEST THEIR ENDURANCE AND SPEED IN THE WORLD FAMOUS FOOTRACE.
For NHPR, this is Brian McWilliams in Durham.
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