77th Annual Marathon Brings Fleeting Feats to Boston Streets

It was nice out yesterday. Not nice enough to lure President Nixon out of the White House to give fellow Americans a garden tour. Nice enough to move the table hockey set outdoors. And yes, nice enough to go sit by the Charles and watch the prophylactics float by.

If those telephone weatherwomen are to be believed, more of the same will be featured today when an estimated 1800 runners line up in a Hopkinton street for the noontime start of the 77th annual Boston Marathon. The winners should finish at about 2:15 p.m.

Two foreigners. Olavi Suomalainen of Finland and Lutz Phillip of West Germany, are the favorites in a race which Americans rarely win these days. Olympic champion Frank Shorter is passing up the Boston event, apparently in deference to another Yale man, Erich Segal.

Stew But No Kisses

The course stretches 26 miles, 385 yards, from Hopkinton past admiring Wellesley College females, up Heartbreak Hill to the screaming Eagles of Boston College and then down to the Prudential Center. Boston Mayor Kevin White will be waiting there with a laurel wreath and a bowl of beef stew--but no kisses--for the lucky winner.

These rich rewards, however, may be leading the Marathon into a dark era. The event has become so popular that the official field has swelled to a record 1574 entries this year. In addition, hundreds of others--who could not meet the qualifying time--will be running.

The logistical problems which this large field causes has led the Boston Athletic Association to impose qualifying standards. Such standards are a direct blow to 350-pound fraternity brothers who want a good laugh.