"There's no one reason for running a marathon," Kalal said. "I'm not sure why I'm doing it, but after 20 miles and those last six miles there does seem to be a reason for me being there. I can't say what it is...it's like the pain and the distance will impose a meaning on the run itself."

Running Not Winning

Kalal was co-captain of the W&L track team, but he quit, more for philosophical reasons than for anything else. He said simply that he is involved with running, not winning. Burns, an intense red-headed sophomore, has stayed on the track team, although he says he has had some misgivings. His reasons for running in the Boston Marathon are different from Kala's.

"It's the ultimate test of a distance runner. Any distance runner worth his weight in track shoes will want to try a marathon," Burns said. "And the Boston Marathon is the class marathon in the United States. I wanted to give myself a chance to run against the best."

There has to be some strong motivation for running in the Marathon. "Unlike Mike," Kalal said, "I didn't come up here to rub shoulders with the best marathoners in the country, in the world, for that matter. What attracts me to Boston is the number of runners. It's sort of like the Woodstock of marathons. You have people of all backgrounds and all occupations getting together for a run."

Mack is a freshman from Babylon, N.Y., and he said he tried football in high school and discovered he abhorred the violence. So he started running, and he hasn't stopped yet.

This afternoon the four from W&L should all finish. Burns should end up just before three o'clock with Kalal, who has run a 2:57:17 marathon, just behind him. Mack and Brittin should reach the Prudential Building later in the afternoon, probably around 3:30.

Kalal summed up his views on the marathon by talking about his view of life, and of running. "I don't evaluate my running in terms of time and place. I evaluate it in terms of its experience."

From Pheidippides and his fatal journey to Athens bringing news of the Greek victory at Marathon, to four long distance runners from a small all-male school of 1974, there is not so great a difference, actually.

"Anyone who finishes a marathon wins," Burns said. "The great thing about running is that you can win without finishing first."