If there was ever a time that Harvard sophomore Deirdre McCarthy wanted to ride the green line down Commonwealth Avenue, it was yesterday during the final miles of the Boston Marathon.

"I was wondering where Rosie Ruiz got on the subway," McCarthy said. "Going past B.C. and seeing the cars running beside you. It was tempting."

Tempting? Not finishing the 26.2-mile course of the marathon, after running for what seemed almost a lifetime? Forget it. Not when McCarthy's roommate, Ronie-Richele Garcia, was running beside her.

"Around the 21-mile mark, she caught up to me," McCarthy said. "We wanted to finish it together and that's just what we did. We basically talked to each other."

Both McCarthy and Garcia finished the race in four hours and 35 minutes. No subways necessary.

For a while, miles maybe, Garcia thought she would never see her roommate until after the finish line. But, for some reason or other, she caught up with McCarthy. Around mile 21. Five more to go. What's up, roomie?

Last night, McCarthy and Garcia stayed in their dorm. They wanted to celebrate, to remember their finish together. They ordered a pizza. And had it delivered.

Running downhill in Newton is like "somebody taking a hammer to your knees for about an hour."

Ned Seaton of Lowell House has a vivid memory. Even though he finished the race in 3:35, Seaton remembers the race down those hills. And the crowd. Especially the crowd.

"The crowd was probably the reason why I never thought about [giving up," Seaton said.

Seaton remembers one point in the race when a runner next to him yelled to the mass of fans, "Yeah, spectators!"

Senior Brian Warrener, who finished the race with a time of 3:22 and "some change," said, "It really is Boston at its best."

The crowd at Wellesley. The fans at Boston University. The mass of people crowded in downtown Boston.

Yeah, spectators.

The first six miles of the marathon.