The Boston Athletic Association, a privatenon-profit group which organizes the BostonMarathon every April, hired Cavalier last year tohelp with the marathon.

In doing so, the association picked Cavalierout of several companies who had bid to transportabout 10,000 runners to the starting line and pickup those in need of medical attention. Thecontract is worth an estimated $25,000 to Libby'scompany.

"We put out bids each year," says DavidMcGilvrey, technical coordinator for the marathon."We retained Cavalier last year for the firsttime."

This year, McGilvrey, who is in charge ofbusing for the marathon, decided to renew theassociation's contract with Cavalier without abid--just as Harvard has done for the past sixyears.

"We felt that Cavalier was the bus company ofchoice," McGilvrey says. "So this year, we didn'tsee the need to go through the bidding process."

One big reason McGilvrey decided to keep thecontract with Cavalier is Lt. Murphy.

Despite the fact that the marathon has nothingto do with his job at Harvard, Murphy takes timeon weekdays to meet with McGilvrey to plan thebusing for the marathon.

"Larry has attended just about all themeetings," McGilvrey says. "And he has personallybeen extremely helpful to me. He'sdetail-oriented, and loquacious. He's willing tolet you know."

"We work hand-in-hand, Larry and me," he says.

Libby has refused to answer anyquestions about how her company operates. But inconversations with Cavalier employees and otherbus owners, Libby portrays herself as a successfulentrepreneur who built a business virtually fromscratch.

"I entered the transportation industry over sixyear ago," Libby wrote to regional bus owners whenshe ran last fall for a spot on the United BusOwners Of America board of directors. "As theowner of Cavalier Coach, I was faced with manyobstacles."

"I competed with large establishedtransportation companies, but I surmounted theseobstacles and utilized this intense competition todevelop my company. Today, Cavalier Coach isconsidered one of the most professional andwell-run companies in the Boston area."

That opinion is generally shared by area busowners--even those who dislike Libby's salestactics, which many say are overly aggressive.

"They are up-to-date; their drivers are good,"says one bus company owner, speaking on conditionof anonymity. "I've been on their buses, andthey're in good shape."

While some bus owners express outrage atHarvard's refusal to open bidding on theCommencement contract, other owners say theyunderstand the University's position.