Harte says he turned to racing marathons as agoal for his training.

"I probably wouldn't like running as much if Ididn't have something to train for," he says.

With long runs of up to 26 miles, Harte's runstake him throughout the Boston area. A native ofCarlisle, Mass., Harte says his favorite run takeshim to his parents' house.

And living in Boston provides added incentivesfor racing.

"It would be hard to live here and not run theBoston Marathon," he says.

26.2 Or Bust

The call of the marathon has appealed to manyother Harvard students, though they have lessambitious goals than Harte.

Charlotte W. Houghteling '02 and Sarah E.Reckhow '02 decided after Christmas break totackle their first marathon.

"Our main goal is to finish," Houghteling says."We're setting our time goal at 4:20, but we maygo faster."

Both Houghteling and Reckhow have run in thepast, and both have parents who have run theBoston marathon.

Reckhow, who is also a Crimson editor, watchedher father finish in 1990, and Houghteling'smother plans to complete her third marathon today.

"My mom runs the marathon, so if she can runit, then I thought, so can I," Houghteling says.

The pair has been training six days a weeksince January. They have been following a schedulefrom a Web site, running about 30 to 40 miles perweek.

Their longest run stretched to 20 miles, andHoughteling and Reckhow used the opportunity toexperience parts of the course.

"We did Heartbreak Hill in both directions,"Reckhow says. "It was a long day. It took a whileand I was very worn-out afterwards. I didn't getmuch done [after the run]."