The 109th Boston Marathon took place all day yesterday, as participants ran the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton, Mass. to downtown Boston in mild to warm temperatures.
Tufts freshman Sam MacNaughton, a member of Tufts' President's Marathon Challenge team, said that the weather conditions were "a bit hot at the beginning," but to his and other runners' relief, the temperature cooled down as the evening approached.
Over 200 Tufts students, faculty, alumni and friends participated in the President's Challenge - a tradition spearheaded by University President Lawrence Bacow, a veteran Boston Marathon runner, to encourage camaraderie and Tufts pride among members of the Tufts community.
MacNaughton said that he chose to run his first marathon with the Tufts team because, "[he] thought it was a great opportunity to run a marathon, especially the Boston Marathon."
Due to an illness at the beginning of the year, Bacow was unable to train much with his other teammates. But as Bacow's progress improved, he was able to rejoin the President's Challenge team in time for the final weeks leading up until the marathon.
MacNaughton said that he trained with the team at the start of the training season, but that he eventually began to train more and more on his own.
Nevertheless, "[Bacow] was fun [to train with]," he said. MacNaughton also said he credited Presidential Challenge team coach Don Megerle and Miriam Nelson, one of the Directors within the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, for their support and leadership for the team.
According to the official Web site for the 2005 Boston Marathon, Bacow finished with a net time of four hours and 57 minutes.
MacNaughton said he finished the marathon with a time of four hours and 14 minutes. The winner for the Men's Open was Ethiopian native Hailu Negussie, with a time of two hours, 11 minutes. Catherine Ndereba of Kenya won the Women's Open with a time of two hours, 25 minutes.
