Anthony J. Ribaudo '93 is a marathoner with a cause.

Ribaudo and four other Eliot House Juniors and seniors have set up "an added inspiration" to motivate their run in today's Boston Marathon. They will be raising money for the Jimmy Fund, which works to help child victims of cancer.

The group, which has been tabling to solicit sponsors for their efforts, expected to raise "$200 to $300 tops.

To their surprise, Ribaudo, John W. Pitzer '93, Aaron M. Danzig '92, Chris Ortiz '92 and Todd L. Levine'92 have raised about $700 so far.

"We're going to try to collect it next week if we can walk," Ribaudo said.

He said he hopes the marathon runners will start a new tradition in the house. Evening of Champions, a figure-skating show organized by Eliot residents, donates its proceeds to the Jimmy Fund each year.

Ribaudo and his friends are only a few of the many Harvard students and affiliates who will take part in today's 26-mile race, which will begin at noon in the town of Hopkinton. The marathon's finish line is in front of the downtown Boston.

Months of Training

One of the more seasoned entrants in tomorrow's event is Ming W. Chen '92, who will be running her sixth marathon. She and Allison Conig '94 are two of only a handful of Harvard students who are registered participants.

In order to "run with a number," women must have run another marathon under 3:40, and men under 3:10.

Chen explained she had not expected to qualify but at October's Cape Cod marathon, her time was 3:35. "I shaved 45 minutes off my time," she said, noting that it was the first time she had ever run a marathon alone.

"This time I'm definitely going to try to push myself," she said of to day's race.

"The Boston Marathon's 1992 offi- cial program stats that this year marks the20th anniversary of women's participation in themarathon. "Men were walking on the moon beforewomen were allowed to run in Boston," the programsays.

Chen said that she and a friend,Carolyn J.Sporn '92, usually run four to six miles a dayduring the week and 15 to 20 miles on weekends."We usually run every day. We're fairly compulsiveabout it, even during the winter," she said.

Both Stephen J. Buetow '93 and Sean M. Koscho'92 stated training for this marathon because theywere no longer playing a varsity sport.

"I was kind of down about quitting lacrosse,"said Buetow, who started training three weeks ago"just to kee busy."