{shortcode-dc70598748b17bd7476efd6e1e460a3edbdac7f6}UPDATED: April 18, 2017 at 12:39 p.m.

Cheered on by supportive fans and motivated by inspirational signs, more than a dozen Harvard students joined thousands of other runners to cross the finish line of the 121st annual Boston Marathon.

Founded in 1897, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world, and in recent years the event has taken on a larger significance for Bostonians. After the detonation of two bombs killed three near the finish line of the marathon in 2013, the marathon has become a symbol of Boston’s resilience. More than 30,000 people registered to run this year’s 26.2 mile race.

“Running is technically an individual sport but I’ve played on a lot of team sports growing up and this was definitely the biggest and most selfless team that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Mark E. Czeisler ’19. “I really fed off the crowd.”

Other Harvard students praised their friends’ support.

“So many of our friends came out to support and were on miles 24, 25, and 26 and that was the only way we got through it,” said Adrian E. Horton ’17, who ran the marathon with her sister to benefit the Joslin Diabetes Center. “The finish was like nothing I had ever experienced. It doesn’t feel real.”{shortcode-e6d6546cfad21419d4dd4fde745079272b34ec1d}

Students also said they were proud of themselves for balancing their marathon training with heavy academic workloads.

“Training was a little complicated because I was training during the winter and writing a thesis,” said Horton. “I ran less miles per week but I made sure to hit the long run targets.”

Many Harvard students ran the marathon to fundraise for Boston-area charities. Sophie R. Barry ’20 chose to represent the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team because she was a patient at the hospital as an infant.

“Nineteen years ago, I was hooked up to a ventilator because I couldn’t breathe and I just ran 26.2 miles,” she said. “At times when it was hard for me [during today’s marathon], I just thought about how there are kids going through much harder things.”

Other Harvard runners also said they chose to help causes they had personal experience with.

Manizha Kholmatov ’17 said she chose to benefit the Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Cancer Team because she had cancer when she was younger.

“This cause is really close to my heart,” she said. “It felt like a way to give back and also accomplish something.”{shortcode-17357f71bdbc6735063e8abe1061d4ab3bce79cf}

Czeisler, who ran to benefit the Martin Richard Foundation, an organization named after an eight-year-old victim of the Boston Marathon bombings, said it was especially meaningful to support this charity.

“That was as cool, if not cooler, than the actually running part...just meeting everyone and working with them to fundraise for such an important and such an inspiring cause,” he said.

—Staff writer Caroline S. Engelmayer can be reached at caroline.engelmayer@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @cengelmayer13.

—Staff writer Lauren A. Sierra can be reached at lauren.sierra@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenASierra.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 18, 2017

A previous version of this article misstated the number of people who were killed by the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. Three people, not six, died near the finish line.