U. students enter 100th Boston Marathon

The signature on Peter Kuperman's e-mail messages reveals one of his life goals -- "The 100th Boston Marathon: 2:39:58. It could happen so you better watch." The Engineering and Wharton senior will be competing in Monday's marathon along with two other seniors, one University graduate and 37,000 people who will be converging in Boston for what the running world is calling the "most important race of the century." Kuperman, along with Engineering senior John Blouin, Engineering senior Bill Murphy and 1995 Engineering and Wharton graduate Terry McLean, who is the president of Wharton's Road Runners Club, will also be included in the race. In order to qualify for the marathon, the four were required to beat a time of 3 hours, 40 minutes in at least one other prior marathon. Kuperman qualified in the New York Marathon, but was not satisfied with his time. "I have a white board in my room that says New York was just a trial for Boston," Kuperman said. "The New York race was really windy and awful." All four competitors said they have been training very hard -- running on average 80 miles a week. Blouin and Murphy said the centennial of the marathon was their main reason for traveling to Boston this year. Boston Marathon officials plan to host three times the normal number of runners. There will be 24,500 competitors and at least 12,000 people in the open division. "The race is going to be like a giant migration from Hopkinton [the city where the marathon will begin] to Boston," Kuperman said. Blouin said he is entering the marathon because the competition is a "historical race." And Murphy said he was not prepared for the Philadelphia Marathon, which he used as the qualifier, but has trained extensively for Monday's competition. "I want to be able to say that I ran in the 100th Boston Marathon," he said. "I have done my best to prepare." Kuperman hopes a successful Boston Marathon will lead to subsequent races. The Canadian citizen plans on representing his country in the 2000 Olympics at Sydney, Australia. Blouin, Kuperman and Murphy are members of the University's cross country and track teams. All four will leave tomorrow to travel to Boston. For Blouin, it will be a trip home. "I grew up in Boston and have spent my high school years running there," he said. "I definitely have an advantage because I really know the course." Family and friends of the University competitors will also travel to Boston to celebrate the anniversary.