Annual Marathon Electrifies Boston Even If You Don’t Qualify For The 100th Running Of The Boston Marathon, You Can Still Tap Into The Energy

On the third Monday of April every year, about 10,000 hollow-cheeked people from all over the world descend on Boston, then ride in buses for the privilege of running - running, mind you - 26.2 miles back into downtown.

This ritual is the Boston Marathon, the oldest annual marathon in the world and the most respected foot race in the United States. It is the only marathon, other than the Olympics, that imposes a qualifying standard on entrants. It draws elite runners from the entire world. In 1995, entrants were from 50 countries and all 50 states.

“The Boston” will be run for the 100th time on April 15, 1996, and the sponsoring organization, the Boston Athletic Association is planning a whale of a birthday party.

For starters, the number of runners will swell to almost three times the usual number. Normally, to enter The Boston, a runner must complete a marathon sanctioned by USA Track & Field or foreign equivalent during the previous year within a time limit determined by the runner’s age. In 1995, about 9,500 runners qualified to enter.

For the race’s centennial, about 15,000 qualifiers are expected. But, in a break with Boston tradition, an additional 10,000 non-qualifying runners will be chosen by lottery to join them. That’s 25,000 sweaty bodies making the trip.

Even if you aren’t a runner, The Boston is a magical experience. The electricity surrounding the event is contagious.

Copley Square, where the finish line is located, is normally a dignified park-like block occupied by the charming, 1877-vintage Trinity Church, with the elegant Copley Plaza Hotel on one side and the venerable Boston Public Library on another. Between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening before the Marathon, it undergoes a complete transformation.

First, a mobile-home command center appears, followed by the camera bridge over Boylston Street and gaily striped tents for medical and other services. Barricades that will hold back the spectators are stacked neatly along Boylston, and hundreds of portable toilets are placed in strategic areas.

While the volunteers and the work crews are busy outside, the two-day Sports and Fitness Expo is taking place in the nearby Hynes Convention Center.

The Expo is merely crowded on Saturday; on Sunday you can’t stir ‘em with a stick.

They’re gathering around runningshoe company booths in anticipation of appearances of champion runners, such as Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson. They’re picking up bargains in energy bars and wick-away-the-moisture socks. They’re munching their way through samples of pasta, pirogi and frozen yogurt. They’re buying BAA jackets, bags, mugs, hats, buttons and T-shirts.

The third Monday of April also is a state holiday in Massachusetts - Patriot’s Day, commemorating Paul Revere’s 1775 ride to warn colonists of the British army’s approach. A reenactment of Revere’s ride is staged, complete with lanterns hung in the tower of the Old North Church.

But the runners don’t notice. To them, Patriot’s Day is Race Day.

About 9:30 Monday morning, the runners board the buses that take them to the starting line.

By 10:30, suburban Hopkinton is elbow-to-elbow with milling runners and their families and friends. The usually mild-mannered town of about 9,000 people is bursting at the seams. The air is perfumed by the smell of Ben Gay.

School buses are shuttle buses for the day, moving people from designated parking areas into town and back.

There are lines for everything: water fountains, buses, portable johns.

At 11:30, helicopters from the three local TV stations are circling overhead.

Fifteen minutes later, with march music blaring from loudspeakers, the starting gun for the wheelchair athletes echoes across the Hopkinton town square.

Another starting gun - this one for the runners - sounds at exactly noon. And they begin what for the leaders will be a journey taking a bit more than 2 hours.

For others, the ordeal ranges up to 5 or more hours of running and/or walking into Boston.

Each runner who completes the Marathon in 5 hours or less is rewarded with a handsome pewter medal on a blue-and-gold ribbon and the knowledge that he or she finished the most prestigious annual marathon in the country.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go Getting around: Logan Airport is just 2 miles from downtown, but the only access by road is through a narrow, crowded tunnel. Allow at least an hour. For schedules and information about airport ground transportation, call (800) 23-LOGAN. Driving in Boston will make you crazy, and parking will clean out your wallet. Public transit, both buses and the subway (called the “T”), is easy to use. Subway maps are available everywhere or call (617) 722-3200. Tourist information Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau; P.O. Box 990468, Boston, Mass. 02199; (800) 888-5515 or (617) 536-4100. Boston Red Sox schedules, ticket information: (617) 267-1700. Baseball season begins April 1. Guidebooks For general information: “Hidden Boston and Cape Cod” (Ryan Vollmer and Patricia Mandell; Ulysses Press) or “I Love Boston Guide” (Marilyn J. Appleberg; Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co.). For historic sites: “Boston Sites and Insights: A Multicultural Guide to Fifty Landmarks In and Around Boston” (Susan Wilson; Beacon Press). For locations grouped by interest and picked by local experts: “Spade & Archer’s 50 Maps of Boston” (H.M. Gousha). Contains such insiders’ tips as Julia Child’s favorite places to buy groceries and Bill Rodgers’ (four-time Boston Marathon champion) favorite places to run. Sightseeing: Boston in mid-April is usually coming alive from its winter hibernation. The trees are budding and the tulips are blooming. It is sometimes still icy on Marathon Monday, so it’s best to take layers of clothing. Lodgings Get a complete list of lodgings from the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (address above), the Mobil Travel Guide or the AAA TourBook. Expect higher-than-listed rates during the Marathon. Marathon Tours (108 Main St., Boston, MA 02129) is the main travel agency booking airline seats and lodging for the Boston Marathon. Call (617) 242-7845 or (800) 444-4097. It arranges travel to marathons all over the world. Marathon information Contact Boston Athletic Association, P.O. Box 1996, Hopkinton, MA 01748; (508) 435-6905. Postmark deadlines for applications: open division, Nov. 1; qualified division, Dec. 31.