Harvard Runners Face Heartbreak Hill

When Timothy C. Harte '90, a resident tutor in Kirkland House, crosses into Ashland during today's 103rd running of the Boston Marathon, he will have added incentive to keep hammering away at the 26.2 mile course.

Harte placed 51st in last year's race, and he was chosen by Adidas, one of the marathon's major sponsors, to appear in the company's ad campaign. His visage now graces posters, Web sites and postcards, not to mention a giant banner hanging over the entrance to Ashland.

"When I went to pick up my number, I kept seeing big pictures of myself," says the unassuming Harte.

Harte is one of the many Harvard-affiliated runners participating in today's marathon.

While most do not have Harte's experience or competitive edge--their reasons for running range from fundraising for the Red Cross to following in their parents' foot--steps--they all seem to share his hunger for a challenge.

Harte, a former captain of Harvard's indoor and outdoor track teams, recently ran the New York Marathon in 2:29, and he is hoping to improve on that time today.

"I'd be happy with anything under 2:30, but I'm shooting for 2:26," says Harte, who has been training consistently for the past four months, running between 80 to 90 miles per week.

He runs for the Boston Athletic Association and mixes team workouts with his own training.

"I prefer to train on my own, but I do hard track workouts and some long runs with guys from the team," he says. "I like a balance."

Harte, a fourth-year graduate student in the Slavic languages and literatures department, is also attempting to strike a balance between his running and coursework.

He says he promised himself not to run more than once a day, as many elite runners do.

"I didn't want it to dominate my life," he says.

Running competitively still plays a major role in Harte's life, though.

"I wonder if I should be devoted entirely to academic work," he says. "Sure, [marathoning] is exciting, but you have to sacrifice something if you want to run marathons as seriously as I do."

Harte moved up from the shorter distances heran as an undergraduate in part because trainingfor a marathon allows a more flexible schedule.

"It's much easier than, say, running track hereat Harvard," he says. "You can be a littlesloppier in your training, you don't need thespeed."

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]."

Like Houghteling and Reckhow, John Paul Rollert'00 is running the marathon unofficially.

Rollert says he views the marathon as apersonal challenge.

"At Harvard we always get tested mentally. It'snice to be physically put to the test, as a friendof mine once said," he says.

"I can't think of any test that is moreaccessible than the Boston Marathon. You can go toHawaii and do the Ironman, but if you're in theBoston area [this is it]."

Today will be Rollert's second time running themarathon. He ran last year's race just weeks afterrecovering from a foot injury and had little timeto train.

Although he described the race as "prettyterrible," Rollert was pleased with the overallexperience.

"It was my first time doing it, and I was ableto do it in under four hours," he says. "[Crossingthe finish line] was one of the greatestexperiences of my life, or one of greatest reliefsof my life, to put it better."

This year he hopes to drop his time to 3:45,but says his primary goal is to finish.

Erica L. Brooks '99 and Eleanor M. Pries '99are combining a quest for a physical challengewith a desire to help others. The first-timemarathoners have each raised $1,500 for the RedCross.

Pries says today's marathon comes at aparticularly relevant time, given the Red Cross'extensive relief efforts in Kosovo.

While being a member of the Red Cross teammeans the pair will run as official runners, Priessays their primary goal is to finish.

"This is an incredible experience, and if youget really pissed off about a time it'sunfortunate," she says. "We just want to finishand be alive and feel good about it."

Combined, the pair has experience playing forHarvard's soccer, rugby and lacrosse teams, buthad no formal running experience before decidingto do the marathon.

They have been training five days a week, about35 to 40 miles, for much of 1999. Pries says shealso relies on crosstraining, such as swimming, tohelp.

"We're athletes, not runners," Pries says.

two have benefited from a membership in theBoston Running Club, a perk of running with theRed Cross team.

After training for so long, Pries says they areready to get out on the course.

"I'm totally pumped," she says. "I definitelythink we're ready.

Harte moved up from the shorter distances heran as an undergraduate in part because trainingfor a marathon allows a more flexible schedule.

"It's much easier than, say, running track hereat Harvard," he says. "You can be a littlesloppier in your training, you don't need thespeed."

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]."

Like Houghteling and Reckhow, John Paul Rollert'00 is running the marathon unofficially.

Rollert says he views the marathon as apersonal challenge.

"At Harvard we always get tested mentally. It'snice to be physically put to the test, as a friendof mine once said," he says.

"I can't think of any test that is moreaccessible than the Boston Marathon. You can go toHawaii and do the Ironman, but if you're in theBoston area [this is it]."

Today will be Rollert's second time running themarathon. He ran last year's race just weeks afterrecovering from a foot injury and had little timeto train.

Although he described the race as "prettyterrible," Rollert was pleased with the overallexperience.

"It was my first time doing it, and I was ableto do it in under four hours," he says. "[Crossingthe finish line] was one of the greatestexperiences of my life, or one of greatest reliefsof my life, to put it better."

This year he hopes to drop his time to 3:45,but says his primary goal is to finish.

Erica L. Brooks '99 and Eleanor M. Pries '99are combining a quest for a physical challengewith a desire to help others. The first-timemarathoners have each raised $1,500 for the RedCross.

Pries says today's marathon comes at aparticularly relevant time, given the Red Cross'extensive relief efforts in Kosovo.

While being a member of the Red Cross teammeans the pair will run as official runners, Priessays their primary goal is to finish.

"This is an incredible experience, and if youget really pissed off about a time it'sunfortunate," she says. "We just want to finishand be alive and feel good about it."

Combined, the pair has experience playing forHarvard's soccer, rugby and lacrosse teams, buthad no formal running experience before decidingto do the marathon.

They have been training five days a week, about35 to 40 miles, for much of 1999. Pries says shealso relies on crosstraining, such as swimming, tohelp.

"We're athletes, not runners," Pries says.

two have benefited from a membership in theBoston Running Club, a perk of running with theRed Cross team.

After training for so long, Pries says they areready to get out on the course.

"I'm totally pumped," she says. "I definitelythink we're ready.