This Monday at noon the starters gun will fire off the 106^th running of the Boston Marathon. It will be the 34^th consecutive year the event has been held on Patriot's Day, a holiday celebrated only in Maine and Massachusetts to commemorate the start of the revolutionary war. This year 432 athletes have qualified to represent Michigan. Some will discover for the first time the magic and lore that make Boston the marathon with the deepest sense of tradition.

It's been 28 years since I ran my first Boston. I remember it well because it was my first one. While in my senior year at Michigan State, my running buddies convinced my to sign up. Although there was a qualifying time (which began in 1970 to keep the field at a manageable level), I faked a time to get in. Back in the 70's there was almost no way to track every marathon and qualifying times. Plus the Boston Athletic Association and marathon organizers were not the professionally run organization that it is now.

With a minimal amount of training I set my sights on completing the 26.2 mile run. Unlike today, there were no training guides or programs and few experts. My MSU friends and I piled in a car and drove out to Boston. I think some of us slept on the floor of our hotel room to save money. Years later I wondered how I performed as well as I did under these circumstances.

One advantage to a late starting time was that we had plenty of time to get out to the start. 1974 was the last year we were required to get a physical just before the race. Doctors lined up in the gym to test us for our ability to cough and breath easily. Then we sat around Hopkinton Square to await the line up of almost 2,000 runners.

I remember making a decision the morning of the race to wear a thicker pair of socks to compensate for my cheap pair of racing shoes. It was a mistake I would regret. Little did I know that the first 10 miles of the race were all downhill. In addition, my friends weren't about to start the race from the back of the pack. We conveniently slid behind the front group and got pulled along with all the speedsters.

By mile 7 huge blisters formed on the sides of my feet. Soon, I was forced to take off my shoes and run in my socks to relieve the pressure. After a quarter mile or so, I knew that I wouldn't be able to complete the race this way. I searched out a neighborhood drugstore and pleaded with the manager to help me with my dilemma. He graciously told me to lay on the floor as he popped my blistered, taped my feet and inserted some new pads in my shoes. I slipped them on minus the socks and jumped back onto the course.

After Heartbreak Hill, I caught one of my buddies and we raced together. Within a few miles of the finish we could hear the crowd screaming. They were cheering for the first women approaching. My friend yelled to me that he wasn't about to get beat by a woman and took off. As I approached the last street to the finish line I was awed by the huge applause. With a little luck, I managed to share in Miki Gorman's laurel wreath victory and crossed the finish line a few steps ahead.

Years later I would achieve great success at Boston but they couldn't overshadow the excitement of my first Marathon.

Race of the Week: Coming up on 4/21; West Bloomfield Half Marathon, 10:30am contact the W.B. Parks and Recreation 248 738-2500 or www.runmichigan.com/westbloomfield